
. rft 



Book 



GopightN L_._ ■ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



PETER 



THE APOSTLE. 



BY THE 



REV. WILLIAM M. TAYLOR, D.D., 

MINISTER OF THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE, NEW YORK CITY 

AUTHOR OF 

"DAVID KING OF ISRAEL" AND "ELIJAH THE PROPHET." 




NEW YORK: 

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN SQUARE. 



\* 



*% 



LIBRARY cf CONGRESS 


Two Copies 


Received 


NOV 3 


1904 


Copyngnt £ntry 

/CLASS «- XXc, No; 

COPY B. 



Copyright, 1876, by Harper & Brothers. 
Copyright, 1904, by Jessie Taylor. 



PREFACE. 



IN the volume now presented to the public, the author 
has attempted to do for a prominent New Testament 
character what he has done in former works for such Old 
Testament worthies as David and Elijah. 

There are many treatises — some of them of surpassing ex- 
cellence — on the life of Paul ; yet few have undertaken to set 
forth in order the incidents and lessons of the history of Pe- 
ter ; and in looking for a subject from the Christian Script- 
ures, the author was led mainly by that fact to the selection 
of the Apostle of the Circumcision. 

As he has prosecuted his work, he has grown in his love 
of the warm-hearted, impulsive, and often blundering apos- 
tle, and in his appreciation of the incalculable service ren- 
dered by him to the Church and to the world. 

He has looked at Peter as a brother man, having the same 
infirmities as the rest of us ; and he has sought to bring 
from his errors, as well as from his excellencies, lessons that 
may be helpful to Christians generally amidst the trials and 
temptations of modern life. 

It has been a joy to him to find that he has had to keep 
close company with the Master, in order to do justice to the 
disciple ; and his prayer is, that every reader may be stimu- 
lated and strengthened by his words. 

New York, December, 1876. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

I. The Ministry of John the Baptist 7 

II. Finding and Bringing 21 

III. Fishers of Men 36 

IV. Walking on the Waters 51 

V. The First Confession 65 

VI. The Second Confession 78 

VII. The Rebuke 95 

VIII. On the Holy Mount 109 

IX. 17ie Washing of the Feet 124 

X. Denial 138 

XI. By the Lake of Galilee 153 

XII. Pentecost 170 

XIII. The Lame Man Healed 185 

XIV. Before the Council 201 

XV. Ananias and Sapphira 217 

XVI. Before the Council Again 235 

XVII. Simon Magus 253 

XVIII. Eneas and Dorcas , 268 

XIX. Cornelius 283 

XX. Peter Prayed Out of Prison 300 

XXI. Peter Withstood by Paul at Antioch 318 

XXII. Letters and Last Days 332 

XXIII. Simon Peter a Servant and an Apostle of Christ. 349 

INDEX 375 



PETER, THE APOSTLE, 



I 



I. 

THE MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
John i., 19-39. 

T was the dark hour before the dawn, and the pall of ruin 
seemed to have spread over the Land of Palestine. The 
sceptre of David had passed out of Jewish hands, and the 
civil authority had come to be exercised by those who were 
the puppets of the Roman emperor. Even the office of the 
high-priest had lost its prestige, and men were promoted to 
it for no other reason than that they were the favorites of 
princes or the masters of intrigue. Crime was rampant, and 
cruelty was common. " Judea," as Josephus says, "was full 
of robberies;" and the same historian affirms "that at no 
time of their history, not even after their return from exile, 
had the nation been more wretched."* 

The religion of the people had degenerated, on the one 
hand, into a cold and dreary formalism, which seemed to 
consider that a punctilious attention to all traditional re- 
quirements secured an indulgence for the commission of 
every sort of iniquity ; and, on the other, into a cynical skep- 
ticism, which, by denying or disbelieving the reality of the 
unseen and the future, destroyed the eternal sanctions of the 

* "Antiq.,"xvii., 10,7,2. 



8 Peter, the Apostle. 

divine law, and left the man at liberty to indulge in sin with- 
out fear of retribution ; while some, disgusted with society, 
withdrew into the desert, and in the practice of asceticism 
learned, alas ! only to exchange their hatred of the world for 
the deification of themselves. 

Thirty years before, the dying embers of the nation's hope 
had been stirred for a season by the story which the Bethle- 
hem shepherds told, and the rumor of some singular words 
uttered by two venerable saints within the temple courts. 
But these had long since been forgotten by all save that one 
thoughtful woman of Nazareth, in whose heart they were still 
cherished ; and now, throughout the length and breadth of 
the land, there was the silence and the darkness of spiritual 
death. " When the tale of bricks is doubled, then comes 
Moses •" and it was at this time of deepest national degrada- 
tion that a voice was heard calling the people to awake, and 
telling them that the morning was at hand. 

Faint at first, and feeble, like the notes of the earliest 
bird, came to the cities the rumor of the appearance, on the 
edge of the wilderness of Judea, of a wonderful preacher of 
righteousness. Then, as the song of the bird is taken up 
and repeated by all the tenants of the grove, that report 
was caught up and re-echoed by the people, until, in eager 
curiosity, they trooped out by thousands to listen to his 
words. When they reached his encampment, they found no 
vulgar ascetic, no common Essene, who made a merit of his 
misery, but indeed a thoughtful man, who had pondered 
long in solitude over the problems of life ; and who, with 
eyes that God had opened, descried the coming of a king- 
dom, for which he called on men, with thrilling earnestness, 
to prepare. 

In dress like their favorite prophet Elijah, he had also the 
grand old Tishbite's peculiar power. He knew neither fear 
nor fawning. He called things by their right names ; and 



The Ministry of John the Baptist. 9 

though he had dwelt so long in the desert, he let his hearers 
feel that he had not forgotten the evils which he had seen 
practiced in the cities. He aimed right at their consciences, 
and spoke in plain and unmistakable terms of the sins 
with which they were chargeable. He knew nothing of that 
simpering propriety, all begloved and sleek, which has chlo- 
roformed so many modern preachers ; but he exposed, in 
words as unadorned as his own camlet robe, the iniquities of 
his hearers, and called on them, there and then, to repent. 

Nor in his lips was repentance a mere thing of word pro- 
fession. He made men feel that, to be genuine, penitence 
must bring forth appropriate fruits. And among these fruits 
it is remarkable that he made no mention of his own her- 
mit-like life. He did not say to the crowds that thronged 
around his tent, " If you would prepare for the coming king- 
dom of heaven, then leave the busy haunts of men, as I have 
done, and withdraw from all participation in the engage- 
ments of your fellows." But he bade them return to their 
homes and their callings, to practice there the principles of 
righteousness which he inculcated. He did not command 
the Roman soldier to desert his legion, and seek another 
sphere for serving God ; but he exhorted him to remain in 
the ranks, and conquer there, himself. He did not condemn 
the publican for gathering taxes, or inveigh against the honor 
and respectability of his occupation ; but he sent him back 
to his work, to be honest in it, saying, " Exact no more than 
that which is appointed you." He did not pamper the 
pride of his fellow-countrymen by alleging that, because they 
were Abraham's children, there was no fear of them ; but he 
set them all face to face with the law of God, and bade each 
one measure himself with its requirements. And, though 
men were thus condemned by his words, and made to trem- 
ble under his rebukes, there was such a fascination exerted 
by him that they could not stay away from his ministrations. 



io Peter, the Apostle. 



His very fidelity attracted them. He held them by the 
stern earnestness of his "glittering eye ;" so that, wherever 
he moved along the Jordan, the cities emptied themselves 
into his audience. 

In connection with his withering exposure of prevailing 
sins, and giving to that much of its power to produce imme- 
diate results, he made proclamation of the near approach of 
that kingdom to which all the prophets of the nation had 
borne witness ; and he seems to have had clearer views of 
its nature than had been obtained by any of them. He was 
far, indeed, from having gained such a perception of the 
character of Messiah's mission as that which was afterward 
enjoyed by Paul. In this respect, the least in the kingdom 
of heaven is greater than he. Yet he was as much in ad- 
vance of the prophets of the Old Testament, as the morn- 
ing-star is brighter than the other luminaries in the train 
of night. To him the Prince of the new kingdom was no 
mere earthly monarch who was to wield the sword of the 
world, and outrival all Roman renown, but he was a heav- 
enly visitant, who was to " baptize men with the Holy Ghost 
and with fire." He was the herald, thus, not of an external 
revolution, but of an internal and spiritual regeneration, to 
be accomplished through the mission of the coming deliv- 
erer, and the descent of the Holy Spirit into men's hearts. 

As a symbol of this purification which the great expected 
one was to make, and as a pledge that on his coming they 
would submit themselves to his spiritual ablution, he called 
upon his hearers to receive baptism by water from his hands. 
The Lord was at hand ! And, as when he went into the 
Holy of Holies, the high-priest was careful to sanctify him- 
self, so he would have them prepare to meet the Messiah by 
a change of life and conduct, of which the fitting emblem was 
the washing of their bodies with water. Hence at Bethabara, 
the ford of Jordan, where, as was supposed, the tribes had 



The Ministry of John the Baptist. ii 

crossed under Joshua, and where the waters were parted by 
Elijah's mantle, there was a constant stream of penitents 
seeking to observe this new and striking ordinance. 

But among these there were some who were drawn into 
closer fellowship with the preacher than others. Their 
hearts were stirred more deeply than those of others by his 
words. New ideals were set before them by his instruc- 
tions. Their consciences were quickened by his appeals, 
so that they became almost his constant attendants, and had 
for him that romantic affection which a youth always con- 
ceives for the teacher who has first awakened him to intel- 
lectual and spiritual life. 

In this inner circle of the Baptist's disciples, there were 
two young men belonging to the fishing village of Bethsaida, 
on the Lake of Galilee, who had been attracted to him most 
probably in one of his Galilean tours, and had remained with 
him so long as the season kept them from their usual labors ; 
and it was while they were with him that he gave, to the of- 
ficial deputation who came to ask him who he was, that re- 
markable answer which we read in the first chapter of the 
fourth gospel. " He said, I am the voice of one crying in 
the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said 
the prophet Esaias." And when they inquired again why he 
baptized, if he were not the Christ, he replied, " I baptize with 
water : but there standeth one among you, whom ye know 
not : he it is, who coming after me, is preferred before me, 
whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose." 

It seems certain, from these words, that Jesus Christ was 
at the moment among the crowd that stood around the 
speaker; but in any case, on the following day, the Baptist 
seeing Jesus, pointed him out to his disciples, saying, " Be- 
hold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the 
world !" On the same occasion he told them how, when Je- 
sus presented himself for baptism at his hands, he had the as- 



12 Peter, the Apostle. 

surance of his identity given to him, by the sight of the Holy 
Spirit descending with dove-like motion upon him, and re- 
maining with him, and by the hearing of a voice from the ex- 
cellent glory, which said, " This is my beloved son, in whom 
I am well pleased." This statement, we may be sure, was 
full of interest to all who heard it; but it produced a deep 
impression on the two fishermen to whom we have alluded ; 
for when, the day after, pointing to the same stranger, John 
said, " Behold the Lamb of God !" they followed him to his 
home, and, after spending the night with him, and becoming 
convinced that he was indeed the promised Messiah, they 
enrolled themselves among his disciples. 

In these two Galilean peasants we see the nucleus of the 
Christian Church ; and John, having in them introduced the 
Bride to the Bridegroom, had virtually fulfilled his course. 
From that hour onward his brightness waned, but only as the 
lustre of the morning-star is paled by the light of opening 
day; and so there was not a shade of either envy or jeal- 
ousy in his heart. " He must increase, but I must decrease " 
— these were his noble words; "This therefore my joy is 
fulfilled " — that was his noble sentiment ; and when, for his 
unflinching reproof of iniquity in Herod's household, he was 
cruelly put to death, his disciples showed that they had im- 
bibed their master's spirit, for they " took up his body and 
buried it ;" and, as the most appropriate thing to do next, 
"they went and told Jesus." 

Such were the main features of the ministry of John the 
Baptist. The circumstances connected with his birth, and 
the tragic character of his death, lent a special interest to 
his history ; but it was the character of the man himself that 
gave him, under God, his power. He was, as one has said, 
" not merely a prophet ; he was ancient prophecy personified 
in the last of its representatives, and appearing on the thresh- 
old of the Gospel history, to own and hail the Messiah, of 



The Ministry of John the Baptist. 13 

whom in all ages it had spoken."* He wrote no book ; he 
sung no songs. His book was himself; his sermons were 
his songs ; and he who preached repentance was himself the 
sincerest penitent, even as he who proclaimed Messiah's ap- 
proach was the first to recognize him when he came. 

Yet, unflinching as he was in courage, and unwavering, for 
the most part, as he was in his convictions, he was, after all, 
only a man. Like Elijah in so many other respects, he was 
like him also in this, that he had his "juniper- tree," beneath 
which he lay, in the sadness of despondency. Haply he, 
too, like his great prototype, expected that immediate regen- 
eration of all things was to follow on the appearance of the 
Lord, and so, when he discovered that things went on much 
as before, he was discouraged, and sent to ask Jesus, "Art 
thou, indeed, he that should come, or must we still look for 
another?" But that was only a momentary eclipse. In a 
little time the darkness passed ; and though, like Moses, he 
died within sight of the promised land, he was soon to reap 
in gladness the harvest of those fields which he had sowed 
in tears. 

The Sabbath-school child of to-day knows really more 
concerning Jesus and his work than John did. Yet none 
the less was he the pioneer of the Gospel. He stood on the 
lookout in the laboring ship, as she crossed the troubled 
ocean, and was the first to cry " Land ahead !" But he left 
the continent itself unexplored. Yet it were as absurd to 
depreciate him for that as it would be to reproach Columbus 
because he did not add the geography of America to its dis- 
covery. Truly has the poet said : 

" John, than which man, a sadder or a greater 
Not till this day has been of woman born ; 
John, like some iron peak, by the Creator 
Fired with the red glow of the rushing morn. 

* Pressense, "Jesus Christ : his Life and Times," p. 213. 



14 Peter, the Apostle. 

This, when the sun shall rise and overcome it, 
Stands in his shining desolate and bare ; 

Yet not the less the inexorable summit 
Flamed him his signal to the happier air."* 

And so his " well done " has been already pronounced by 
the Judge ere yet he has mounted the judgment-seat ; for 
Jesus said, " He was a burning and a shining light." 

But now, ere we turn away from John, to enter upon the 
history of that wayward and impulsive apostle, whose broth- 
er was one of these whom the Baptist introduced to Christ, 
let us see if we can carry with us some lessons from this re- 
markable ministry, which may be valuable to us in our pres- 
ent circumstances. 

We may learn, in the first place, that when Jesus is about 
to visit a community in his saving power, his coming is gen- 
erally preceded by loud calls to repentance. It was the 
special mission of the Baptist to unfold the majesty of the 
divine law, and call men up to its unerring standard. There- 
by they discovered how sinful they had become, and how 
helpless they were to regenerate themselves. Their attempts 
at reformation revealed to them their spiritual impotence, 
and made them ready to welcome that Divine Redeemer 
whose special gift was the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The 
law went before the Gospel ; for the knowledge of sin must 
precede the appreciation of salvation ; and as it was in the 
case of the two dispensations, so is it yet in those instances 
of genuine revival which at intervals have come to nations 
or to neighborhoods. 

In some form or other still, John the Baptist comes always 
to foreherald Christ. Now, he takes the form of a Luther, 
a Latimer, or a Knox, and with scathing eloquence, or plain, 



* Frederick W. H. Myers, quoted by H. R. Reynolds, D.D., in " John 
the Baptist." 



The Ministry of John the Baptist. 15 

blunt sense or dauntless courage, he exposes prevalent evils 
both in Church and State, until men's hearts fail them for 
fear, and they cry, " What must we do to be saved ?" Again, 
he comes in no human shape, but takes the form of some 
terrible calamity — a money panic, like that which swept over 
this city in 1857 ; an epidemic of cholera or yellow fever; 
or some destructive dispensation of Providence, that throws 
men out of themselves, and sets them, all uncovered and 
open, before the eyes of Him with whom they have to do. 
I may misread greatly the signs of the times, yet I think I 
recognize John the Baptist among us now. We can not 
take up a respectable newspaper without reading in it some 
call to repentance. The demand it makes is for honesty, for 
truth, for righteousness. Its most pungent political articles 
read only like so many variations of John's sermons to the 
soldiers, to the tax-gatherers, and to the Scribes and Phari- 
sees. Nay, even the political orator is calling upon the oc- 
cupants of our pulpits to speak plainly to their fellow-men 
about the duties of every day, that they may become the 
conservators of the republic. What does it all mean ? It 
surely means that John the Baptist is abroad, and that he is 
anew the herald of a coming Christian revival. Let it go 
on, then ; for this cry for reformation is an aspiration in- 
spired by God himself, and is the assurance that regenera- 
tion is at hand. 

We may learn, in the second place, that when Jesus comes 
to a place in saving power, his presence is recognized by 
the descent of the Holy Spirit. John knew that Jesus was 
the coming deliverer when he saw the Holy Ghost like a 
dove coming down upon him, and remaining with him. Nor 
was this all : the Saviour himself was, so far, at least, as his 
human nature was concerned, prepared for his ministry of 
service and of sacrifice by the reception of the Spirit. As 
Neander says, " The quiet flight and the resting dove be- 



1 6 Peter, the Apostle. 

tokened no sudden seizure of the Spirit, but a uniform un- 
folding of the life of God ; the loftiness, yet the calm repose 
of a nature itself divine ; the indwelling of the Spirit, so that 
he could impart it to others, and fill them completely with 
it, not as a prophet merely, but as a Creator."* 

Now, as the descent of the Spirit upon the body of Christ 
was the token that he was the Messiah, so the sight of his 
body, the Church, revived by the power and effusion of the 
Spirit, will be the sign to the world that its wished-for re- 
generation is to come through its instrumentality. Revival 
in the Church must precede the regeneration of the world. 
Men are crying out for a return to uprightness and truth ; 
but they will not acknowledge that this is to be effected 
through the Church until they behold a revival of these same 
qualities in professedly Christian people. That which is 
needed to leaven the nation, is not the pseudo principle, 
which is, alas ! too common in the Church, but the real 
Spirit of Christ living and working in the believer. 

I think it would be easy to make it appear that in all 
times, when skepticism has been rampant, and morality low 
outside of the Church, there has been little else than a cold, 
negative orthodoxy within the Church itself. It was so in 
England just before the Wesleys came forth preaching re- 
pentance; and if to-day there is a revival of skepticism, and 
an increase of iniquity, one cause may be found in the Phar- 
iseeism and formality that are so prevalent among those who 
"profess and call themselves Christians." So, if we wish a 
blessing for the nation, we must cry for a fresh descent of the 
Holy Ghost upon the Church. Oh, for that baptism of fire, 
which shall impart to our hearts its own flaming energy, and 
consume within them every particle of sinful chaff, while it 
consecrates all their powers to the service of the Lord! Let 

* Neander's " Life of Christ," Bonn's edition, p. 71. 



The Ministry of John the Baptist. 17 

the Church rise to its highest tidal mark in purity, in prayer, 
in self-sacrifice, and in devotion, and the blessing will over- 
flow the nation too. 

When revival is mentioned, we who believe ourselves to 
be Christians are too apt to think of others, and to look for 
the appearance of quickening in them. But that is begin- 
ning at the wrong end. When Christ himself went forth to 
his ministry of salvation, the first thing he did was to open 
his soul for the reception of the descending Spirit. Pente- 
cost began by the descent of the Holy Ghost on the disci- 
ples in the upper room ; and if we are to have a revival 
now, it will come only when you, and I, and all the members 
of our churches, are willing to be ourselves revived by the 
acceptance of this burning baptism. Ay, this burning bap- 
tism j for it burns wherever it purifies : it brings a discipline, 
as well as imparts an energy ; and he who would possess 
its power must submit himself to its scorching flame. Are 
you willing, my brother? That is the question which for 
you lies at the root of all revival. 

We may learn, in the third place, that they who would ex- 
perience Christ's saving power must accept him as a sacri- 
fice for sin. When John saw Jesus, he said, " Behold the 
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world !" and 
as he was not only a Jew brought up under the Mosaic law, 
but a priest, or at least the son of a priest who officiated at 
the altar, this language in his lips could have but one mean- 
ing. It indicated that Jesus Christ was to be the great 
antetype of the lamb of sacrifice; and that what was only 
figurative in the case of the animal was real and true in his 
offering of himself for human sin. This is the distinctive 
doctrine of the Gospel ; this is the grand significance of the 
cross of Christ ; and he who would really experience the 
salvation which is in Jesus with exceeding joy, must re- 
gard him as the great voluntary victim who took upon 



1 8 Peter, the Apostle. 

himself the burden of the world's sin, and nailed it to his 
cross. 

If we are to have revival, this is what our ministers must 
preach, and this is what the people must believe ; for the 
secret of evangelical success is not so much in the qualities 
of the preacher as in the matter which he preaches. Doubt- 
less Luther was a great man. Yet, in his day there were 
other men as largely dowered with intellectual gifts as he ; 
but none of them performed the work he did, because none 
of them preached the sacrificial character of the death of 
Christ as he proclaimed it. Read his "Lectures on the 
Galatians," and you will find that he sets forth the doctrine 
of Christ's substitution in the room of the sinner in the most 
objective form ; and iterates and reiterates the truth, that he 
was made sin for us " who knew no sin, that we might be 
made the righteousness of God in him." 

Glance over the sermons of Whitefield and the Wesleys, 
and you will be struck with the fact, that they also most 
emphatically insisted on the sacrificial character of the 
death of Christ. The same thing is seen in all the dis- 
courses of Mr. Spurgeon, and still more recently in the ad- 
dresses of Mr. Moody. And is not an induction of particu- 
lars like these warrant enough for the inference, that in this 
particular presentation of the cross of Christ lies the secret 
of its power? It was when Andrew and John heard of Je- 
sus as the lamb of sacrifice that they followed him to his 
abode ; and wherever this aspect of Christ's death is fairly 
and fully set before men, multitudes yet will be stimulated 
to become his disciples. 

That was a strange confession which an influential Uni- 
tarian layman made a few months ago in Liverpool, when, at 
a meeting of the Domestic Mission of the church to which 
he belonged, he said, " that though he had little sympathy 
with the methods they adopted, disliked the bad taste which 



The Ministry of John the Baptist, 19 

they evinced, and could not at all agree with the doctrines 
which they preached, yet he felt bound to confess that Mr. 
Moody and Mr. Sankey had in one short month effected 
more among the masses of that town, in the way of reclaim- 
ing drunkards and reforming prodigals, than he and those 
who labored with him had accomplished in all the years 
during which they had been at work." Alas ! he did not 
see that the secret of the power of these men was their 
preaching of Christ and him crucified, in that very sense in 
which he and those who acted with him had repudiated the 
doctrine. Let us be assured, therefore, that if we wish re- 
vival we must obtain it, not by the ventilation of novelties in 
religion, but by the rebrightening of the old truth, that "Jesus 
died, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." 

Let us learn, finally, that wherever Christ is present in 
his saving power, there will be a disposition among men to 
merge themselves in him. John would not let any one put 
him into the Master's place ; and even when some came to 
him seeking to make him jealous by telling him of the pop- 
ularity of Christ, he said, " He must increase, but I must de- 
crease." He was quite willing to be put into the shade by 
Jesus. Nay, that is far from being a right way of expressing 
it. His one desire was to give prominence to Christ, and 
to point him out to others. And in this respect he was like- 
minded with the Christian apostles ; for Paul's ambition was 
that Christ should be magnified, no matter what became of 
him. 

Brethren, wherever Christ is faithfully preached thus, re- 
vival is sure to come, sooner or later ; and when our minis- 
ters shall cease to strive after eloquence as an end in itself, 
and determine only to hold up Christ before men's eyes, then 
they shall be both eloquent and successful ; for true oratory 
comes when self is forgotten in the eager desire of the heart 
to bring souls to salvation. 



20 Peter, the Apostle. 

The perfection of John's wish was secured when thus he 
succeeded in destroying self. That is the lesson of John's 
ministry for the pulpit of to-day; and as we rise from the 
study of his career, we can not forbear joining Keble, in his 
exclamation : 

" Where is the lore the Baptist taught — 

The soul unswerving, and the fearless tongue ? 

The much enduring wisdom sought, 
By lonely prayer the haunted rocks among ? 

Who counts it gain his light should wane, 
So the whole world to Jesus throng. 

" Thou Spirit, who the Church didst lend 

Her eagle wings, to shelter in the wild, 
We pray thee, ere the Judge descend 

With flames like these, all bright and undefiled, 
Her watch-fires light, to guide aright 

Our weary souls, by earth beguiled. 

" So glorious let thy pastors shine, 

That by their speaking lives the world may learn 
First filial duty, then divine ; 

That sons to parents, all to thee, may turn : 
And ready prove, in fires of love 

At sight of thee, for aye to burn !" 



II. 

FINDING AND BRINGING. 

John i., 38-42. 

GREAT things, alike in nature and in history, have come 
out of very small beginnings. In the Mariposa grove, 
the traveler looks on trees three hundred feet in height, yet 
each of these sprung from a seed no bigger than a grain of 
wheat ; and the noble river, which at its union with the sea 
is broad enough and deep enough to float the navy of a na- 
tion on its waters, is at its source a tiny rivulet over which a 
child might stride. Similarly, the germs of some of those 
movements which have been mightiest for good or evil among 
men, have been wrapped up in some apparently trivial thing. 
What, for example, in the view of most men of that day, could 
have been more unimportant than the interview which two 
fishermen from the Lake of Galilee had with one who for 
years had been known as a carpenter at Nazareth ? Yet in 
that conference we have the earthly origin of the Christian 
Church. Here is the seed of that tree which has filled the 
nations with its branches, and which is destined yet to bless 
the world with its beneficent fruits. Nor need we wonder 
at the proportions to which it has attained, for one of these 
three was the " Word " who " was God," and " became flesh," 
that he might deliver men from the curse and power of sin. 

The other two were John, the son of Zebedee, and An- 
drew, the son of Jonas, who belonged to the city of Beth- 
saida, which was situated on the northern shore of the Gali- 
lean lake, near the entrance of the river Jordan into its wa- 
ters. There they had been brought up along with James, 



22 Peter, the Apostle. 

the brother of John, and Simon, the brother of Andrew, like 
other Jewish boys, receiving no better education than that 
which was common among the great body of the people. As 
they grew up, they gave themselves to the work of fishing, 
which was indeed, as its name (literally, the house of fish) 
implies, the great industry of the place. It is probable, too, 
that by their industry and economy they had built up a very 
considerable business ; for Zebedee had hired servants, and 
James and John were partners with Simon, and presumably 
also with Andrew.* Hence, though they were by no means 
wealthy, in the modern sense of that word, they were yet in 
comfortable circumstances, and had, by the diligence and fru- 
gality of their lives, raised themselves somewhat above the 
precarious and proverbial uncertainty of the fisherman's lot. 

As we saw in our last lecture, Andrew and John followed 
with deep interest the stranger whom John the Baptist had 
pointed out to them as "the Lamb of God." Their mas- 
ter's words had created longings in their hearts which he 
himself could not satisfy. He was constantly calling on 
them to make ready for the appearance of another who was 
greater than himself; and it seemed to them, from the de- 
scription he had given them, that this was he. So they went 
after him, until, his attention being directed to them by their 
evident purpose to follow him, he turned and said to them, 
"What seek ye?" They replied, "Rabbi, where dwellest 
thou ?" and as he cordially answered, " Come and see," they 
went with him, and remained beside him until the following 
morning. 

We have no record of the conversation of that night. 
Doubtless John remembered it well ; for even in the narra- 
tive which he has given there are minute details, such as 
the mention of the hour, which indicate that the whole par- 

* Mark i., 20 ; Luke v., 10. 



Finding and Bringing. 23 

ticulars of the interview were present to his recollection \ 
but, under the guidance of the inspiring Spirit, he has with- 
held the account of what Jesus said to them, and has told 
us only the result. Was it because, in Christ's dealings with 
individual souls, there are always passages that never can be 
fully unfolded to others ? Was it that in this incidental way 
the Author of the sacred Scriptures would discourage the at- 
tempt, so often made in these days without discrimination, 
to tell all the confidences that pass between the seeking sin- 
ner and his Saviour ? We can not tell ; but just as Paul has 
given us no description of what occurred between him and 
the Master during those three days of darkness in Damas- 
cus, so John here has said no syllable of all that Jesus spake 
to him and Andrew on that ever-memorable night. 

But in the words of Andrew to his brother we have the 
decided expression of the conviction at which they had both 
arrived. They had " found the Messiah." Now their long- 
ing was satisfied. Now their search was ended. Now the 
discord of their hearts was hushed to peace, and joy unutter- 
erable and divine had filled their souls. This, of course, 
they could not keep to themselves ; for joy is ever diffusive 
in its nature. So Andrew's first care was to "find his own 
brother Simon ;" and when he introduced him to Jesus, the 
Lord met him with these words, wherein cordiality and 
prophecy were combined, "Thou art Simon the son of Jo- 
nas : thou shalt be called Cephas." 

There can be little doubt that the Evangelist, in recording 
this statement, designs to give us the impression that Jesus 
knew by divine insight the character of Peter, even as, at 
the close of the chapter in which this history is recorded, he 
gives us the same idea in regard to the Saviour's words to 
Nathanael ; and the substitution of Cephas for the commoner 
name of Simon, not only betokened what Jesus would yet 
make of the son of Jonas, but also indicated that he clearly 



24 Peter, the Apostle. 

understood wherein the weakness of Simon's character lay. 
There was, therefore, in his words a meaning which would go 
right to the heart of Simon, and reveal to him, as by a light- 
ning-flash, the great want of his nature. Physically strong, 
he was yet not strong enough spiritually to control himself; 
and so, by this change of name, the Saviour indicated to him 
that, from his attachment to himself, he would partake of 
those spiritual influences by which he would be enabled, in 
spite of the vacillations of his impulsive disposition, to hold 
with persevering grasp the faith which he now embraced.* 
Every true believer is a stone to be built into the living Tem- 
ple, which is in process of erection through the ages, for "an 
habitation of God through the Spirit ;" but Simon, naturally 
unstable, was, by the grace of God, to become so conspicuous 
for his steadfastness, that he would be at length the stone 
nearest to, and resting on, the foundation whereon the 
Church is built. 

Such was the first interview between the Master and him 
who was to be the Apostle of the Circumcision. And taken 
with its surroundings in this beautiful history, it is fraught 
with most valuable lessons for our modern life. We shall 
pick up only the more prominent and suggestive. 

Notice, then, in the first place, the attitude of the Saviour 
to the inquirer. When Jesus turned and saw Andrew and 
John following him, he said, "What seek ye?" And again, 
when they asked him, "Where dwellest thou?" he replied, 
" Come and see." The Lord had nothing to conceal. He 
was willing to receive every one who came to him, and 
ready to submit his claims and his salvation to the investi- 
gation of the sincere examiner. And he is so still. True, 
he is now upon the throne of the universe, head over his 
Church, and head over all things to his Church, but he is 

* See Fairbairn's " Imperial Bible Dictionary," article Peter. 



Finding and Bringing. 25 

still as tender and loving toward seeking souls as he was 
that day to John and Andrew by the banks of the Jordan. 
Exaltation has changed many men's hearts, and turned 
many men's heads ; so that full often the chief butler in the 
day of his prosperity forgets the Joseph to whom, in the 
season of his adversity, he had been deeply indebted. But 
what Jesus was on earth to inquiring sinners, that is he still 
in heaven. Still does he say, "Come unto me all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Still 
does he invite the timid seeker to " come and see " the rich 
provision which he has made for every soul's necessity. Still 
does he call upon the needy everywhere, " Oh, taste and see 
that the Lord is good ; blessed is the man that trusteth in 
him." 

Nay, we may widen the application of this principle, and 
say that we have here the attitude of the Gospel toward all. 
It has nothing to fear from the fullest investigation. It sub- 
mits all its claims to the test of experiment. It says, "Come 
and see." This is what Philip said to the prejudiced Na- 
thanael ; this is what the woman of Samaria said to the men 
of her city, who knew not whether she had not become in- 
sane ; this is what the Christian of to-day says to the men 
of learning, who are continually speaking of difficulties in 
the way of their believing in Jesus : I know nothing of 
your scientific discoveries; your perplexities about the su- 
pernatural ; your hesitancies concerning the authenticity of 
these sacred books ; but I do know that Jesus Christ has 
given peace to my conscience, happiness to my heart, purity 
to my life, and the elasticity of inspiration to my whole be- 
ing. Come and see if he will not do the same for you as 
he has done for me. Come ; for it may be that there is a 
learning above your lore, and a science above your earthly 
philosophy. The test is in the trial. You are always talk 
ing of experiments ; why refuse to make this one? 

2 



26 Peter, the Apostle. 

" Oh, make but trial of his love : 
Experience will decide. 
How blest are they, and only they, 
Who in his truth confide." 

Notice, in the second place, that it is a great thing when a 
man "finds" Christ. Now, in working out this thought, we 
must have a clear idea of what we mean by "finding" Christ. 
Andrew and John were in visible and bodily contact with 
Jesus, and it might seem, therefore, that it was an easier 
thing to come to Christ when he was on earth, than it is 
now, when he is enthroned in heaven. But that is a mis- 
take. Many came to converse with him when he lived in 
the world, who yet failed to find the Saviour in him. Multi- 
tudes might be pushed into contact with him that day when 
the poor woman timidly sought a cure by touching his 
clothes ; but it was to her alone that he referred when he 
said, " Somebody hath touched me." Therefore, the contact 
in her case must have been something more than physical, 
and could be nothing else than the application of her soul 
to him in simple faith for healing. 

In like manner, the finding of the Messiah by Andrew and 
John must have been something else than their coming into 
conversation with him, and could be nothing less than a 
description of the fact that they were intellectually con- 
vinced that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah, 
and were sincerely willing to accept him as their Saviour 
and guide. 

But the presence of Jesus in actual humanity before us is 
not essential to the exercise of such confidence as that; and 
so soon as a man becomes convinced that Jesus Christ came 
into the world to save sinners, and is willing to accept salva- 
tion at his hands, he "finds" Christ just as truly as he was 
found by Andrew and John, as recorded in this section of 
the sacred narrative. Now, when a man "finds" Christ 



Finding and Bringing. 27 

thus, it is for him the greatest event in his life, dominating 
and directing every after-circumstance in his career. 

How much the history of the world has been affected by 
the discoveries which men have made ! Take a few. The 
discovery of America ; the invention of printing; the discov- 
ery of the power of steam, and the manifold application of 
the steam-engine ; the invention of the telegraph : who shall 
say how much all these have done for the progress of civili- 
zation ? But put them all together, they have not done so 
great things for the world at large as the discovery of Christ 
does for every soul that " finds " him. It opens up a whole 
new world for his exploration ; it enstamps a new name and 
nature upon his heart ; it brings him under the influence 
of a motive principle which "laughs at impossibilities," and 
removes mountains ; and it gives him a means of communi- 
cation with the unseen as real, as mysterious, and as imme- 
diate as that hidden cable whereon the messages of two hem- 
ispheres vibrate in response to each other. It relieves his 
conscience from the weight of guilt ; it elevates his intellect ; 
it purifies his affections ; it forms his character ; it gives a 
new aim to his life and a new centre to his heart, and brings 
him so under the constraining influence of the love of Christ, 
that, while retaining the great outstanding marks of his indi- 
viduality, he may yet truly be said to be a new man. See 
how this comes out in Paul. Converted or unconverted, the 
man of Tarsus would still have been a leader of his fellows. 
But mark how, after he has found Christ, his whole being 
goes into a new direction, and becomes transfigured and en- 
nobled by the change. His energy becomes sublimed, his 
ambition purified, his nature elevated. Behold, also, how it 
appears in Peter! What a contrast between the fisherman 
and the Apostle ! And how much this discovery of Christ 
made by him, through Andrew's guidance, did to give him 
character and influence among men ! Had he never found 



28 Peter, the Apostle. 

the Messiah, who had ever heard his name ? But from this 
hour he begins to be illustrious ! Said I not truly, therefore, 
that it is a great thing when a man finds Christ? It is in- 
deed the very greatest thing for safety, for happiness, for use- 
fulness, for honor, that can be said of any man, when it is af- 
firmed of him that he has found Christ. My hearer, can it 
be truly said of you ? 

Notice, thirdly, that when a man has found Christ, he 
ought to bring others to Jesus. The first thing Andrew did 
was to tell to another the good news which had already 
thrilled his own heart. So Philip, as recorded in this same 
chapter, found Nathanael, and repeated the same news to 
him. Indeed, it is quite worthy of note how often this "find- 
ing" occurs in this delightful narrative. Andrew "findeth" 
Messiah; then he "findeth" his brother. Jesus " findeth " 
Philip; and Philip "findeth" Nathanael. So that, as 
Trench has beautifully said, in allusion to the well-known 
exclamation of Archimedes in connection with one of his 
discoveries, this " is the chapter of the Eurekas."* " I have 
found him ! I have found him !" Indeed, the promptings of 
one's own nature here are in perfect accordance with the 
commands of the Lord ; for we can not but tell to others the 
tidings which have made us glad ; and in proportion to the 
happiness which they have produced in us will be our ea- 
gerness to make others sharers with us in our delight. As 
Matthew Henry says here, " True grace hates all monopolies, 
and loves not to eat its morsels alone." The woman of Sa- 
maria ran to tell her towns-people of the great Messiah, and 
the disciples who were scattered abroad by the first persecu- 
tion " went everywhere preaching the Word." The command 
is, " Let him that heareth say, Come !" and every Christian 
should become thus a missionary of the Cross. Indeed, we 

* " Studies in the Gospels," p. 67. 



Finding and Bringing. 29 

have not rightly heard, if there is not within us an impulse 
to say "Come." If there be no enthusiasm within us for the 
diffusion of the Gospel, or the conversion of sinners, we make 
it only too apparent that we have not the Spirit of Christ ; 
but if our souls are stirred at the sight of our perishing 
fellow-men, and our hearts prompt us to make efforts for 
their salvation, we prove that we are in sympathy with 
those celestial beings among whom there is "joy over 
one sinner that repenteth," and that the same mind is 
in us which was in him who died that men might be re 
deemed. 

"As ye go, preach." " Go into all the world, and preach 
the Gospel to every creature." These are what the Great 
Duke once styled " the marching orders " of believers ; and 
it is at our peril, if we refuse to carry them out. But when 
the word "preach" is used, let us beware of supposing that 
we need all the outward accessories of a crowded congrega- 
tion and a modern churchy in order to obey this command. 
The meaning simply is, that we should tell the good news 
as we have opportunity. We may " preach " by conversing 
with our friend as we walk down with him to business in the 
morning, or by an incidental remark introduced, not obtru- 
sively or impertinently, but naturally and lovingly, as we 
talk with our fellow-traveler in the steamboat or in the rail- 
way car ; or by the giving of an interesting volume that con- 
tains the truth to some ingenuous youth upon his birthday ; 
or by repeating at the couch of some sick one the leading 
portions of a sermon which we have just heard in the sanct- 
uary ; or by teaching a class in the Sabbath-school ; or by 
bringing a friend with us to the church where we know that 
the faithful preacher will be sure to have some word that 
will point out the way to the Cross ; or even, without a word 
at all, we may preach the most eloquent and powerful of all 
sermons, by simply living for Jesus where we are. There is 



30 Peter, the Apostle. 

a sphere for every x)ne ; and none can claim exemption from 
this great Gospel law, "As ye go, preach." 

But who would desire exemption when there is so great 
need for the exertions of all ? See how earnest the apostles 
of evil are to allure men to destruction, through one or other 
of the several avenues that lead to death ; and shall we be 
less eager to labor for their salvation ? Behold how inde- 
fatigable are the endeavors of those who live to spread 
abroad the news of every day ! What telegraphic agencies 
they use to bring to this one centre the record of important 
occurrences the world over ! What magnificent machinery 
they employ to multiply the number of impressions of their 
journals ! And how eager they are to send forth their 
messengers in the gray morning twilight, to leave at every 
door their daily photographs of God's providence as it re- 
veals itself to their eyes — alas ! not always clear enough to 
read it right. Shall they be so enthusiastic about the news 
of earth, and we be inactive with the better news of the Gos- 
pel ? It is told of the commentator Thomas Scott that, as he 
went to preach at a church in Lothbury at six o'clock in the 
morning, he used to observe that, if at any time in his early 
walk he was tempted to complain, the sight of the newsmen, 
equally alert, and for a very different object, changed his re- 
pining into thanksgiving. So, every time we take up a news- 
paper, let us feel reproved for our remissness in telling the 
good news of God's salvation to our fellow-men ; let us be 
stirred up to self-sacrifice and devotion in this glorious cause, 
and let us resolve to do our utmost in bringing others to 
the Saviour whom we have found for ourselves. 

Notice, in the fourth place, that, in seeking to bring others 
to Jesus, we should begin with those most intimately con- 
nected with us. Andrew went first to find Simon, his "own 
brother." In like manner, Philip sought his friend Nathanael. 
And the Lord Jesus himself laid down the same general law 



Finding and Bringing. 31 

when he commissioned his disciples to preach repentance 
and the remission of sins " among all nations, beginning at 
Jerusalem." Now, this is a point of pre-eminent importance ; 
for among those who really desire to be useful in the world 
the idea is too common, that they must go somewhere else 
than where they are in order to find their proper and peculiar 
work. They look so far away, and so high up, for a mission- 
field, that they overlook the work that is already waiting for 
them just at their feet. Thus, while professing to be eager for 
labor, they are standing in the market-place, " all the day idle." 
In spiritual activity, as in all other matters, it is a good 
rule to begin at the beginning. How many, in trying to 
learn some of the sciences — say geology, for example — have 
disdained the use of hand-books for the mastering of the el- 
ements, and, plunging at once into some elaborate treatise, 
which presupposed familiar acquaintance with the rudiments, 
have felt themselves unable to understand it, and have thrown 
up the whole study in disgust ! Now, it is just thus many do 
in Christian work. They begin at the wrong place, and so 
they speedily become discouraged. Work from the centre 
out, and the radii of your influence will go out to every point 
of the circumference ; but if, leaving your own proper centre, 
you take your station somewhere on the circumference, your 
labor will produce very little result. Now, home is the cen- 
tre of every man's sphere ; and it is there he must begin to 
work for Jesus. Let the husband begin with the wife, and 
the wife with the husband ; the parents with the children ; 
and the children, where need is, lovingly and humbly, with 
the parents ; the brother with his sister ; and the sister with 
her brother. Then, when the home sphere is filled up, let 
your life's influence flow over, and seek to benefit those with 
whom you are coming into daily business contact. Thus 
the branches of your vine will " run over the wall," and your 
sphere will widen ever with your endeavors. 



32 Peter, the Apostle. 

" Oh yes I" you will say to me, " that may be all very true. 
But it is far more difficult thus to begin at home than to 
commence abroad. I would rather teach a class in the mis- 
sion-school than speak to my own family about Jesus. I 
would almost sooner address a meeting than make a private 
appeal to my brother or my sister." But why is that? Sure- 
ly it can not be because you love those who are nearest to 
you less than you do those who are farther away ! Can 
it be because you would get more prominence and honor 
among men, by working abroad, than you could secure by 
laboring at home ? Or is it because you are conscious that 
your home conduct would destroy the influence of any teach- 
ings on which you might venture there ? You know best. 
But whatever be its cause, let me beseech you to revise your 
whole procedure, and make home the head-quarters of your 
effort. Can it be that there are here a wife and husband 
who have never had one hour of heart communion with each 
other on this all-important matter ? If there be, may God 
himself in some way break that silence that has sealed their 
tongues ; and let us all rest assured that the truest revival 
of religion will be gained when our church members are re- 
solved to test what shall be the result of beginning to labor 
thus for Christ at home. 

We are making far too little in these days of the Church 
in the house. We are waiting for our children to be con- 
verted by outside influences, when, if we were to look at the 
matter rightly, it should be our ambition to be ourselves the 
leaders of our sons and daughters to the Lord. Some years 
ago I read an account of the manner in which a cold church 
was stirred into warmth and vitality ; and as it bears direct- 
ly on the point to which I am now referring, I will take the 
liberty of introducing it here. At one of the conference 
meetings, a simple man, not remarkable for fluency or cor- 
rectness of speech, made an appeal something to the follow- 



Finding and Bringing. 33 

ing effect : " I feel, brethren, real bad about the people who 
don't love the Lord Jesus Christ here in our own neighbor- 
hood. We're not as we ought to be, that's very certain, but 
it's hard work rowing against the stream. We find that out 
when we talk to men about religion on Sunday who haven't 
any religion all the week. They don't mind us. And just 
so with the young folks. Their minds all seem running one 
way. Now, what's to be done? Not much with the grown 
folks, for they aren't controlled by us, and we can only drop 
a word now and then, and pray for them. But here's our 
own children. I have four boys, and only one of them 
comes to the communion with his mother and me. And I 
don't think I have done my duty to those younger boys. 
They love me, and God knows I love them ; but I kind o' 
hate to speak to them about religion. But rather than see 
them go farther without my Jesus for their Jesus, I'm going 
to ask them to join him. I'm going to pray with them ; and 
if I can't tell them all they want to know, why, our minister 
can. Brethren, I'm going to try to turn the stream for my 
boys. Home is the head of the river. I mean to begin to- 
night. Won't some father do like me with his boys, and 
give me his word out?" Scarcely had he seated himself, 
when, one after another, some thirty people pledged them- 
selves, saying, "I'll do the same at my house;" and the 
pledge was kept. In a short time the minister's labors be- 
gan to tell as they had never done before. The influence 
spread, but there was no excitement. On the occasion of 
the communion -service, from family after family, one and 
another came to enroll themselves among the followers of 
Jesus, and nearly every one that came was under twenty-five 
years of age. So, through revived home effort, the work of 
God was stimulated both in the church and in the neighbor- 
hood. My friends, this witness is true, " Home is the head 
of the river." Is there no one here to-night who will join in 

2* 



34 Peter, the Apostle. 

the resolution made by that earnest man, and say, " By the 
grace of God, I'll do the same at my house ?" 

Notice, finally, that in following this plan of working for 
Christ we may, all unconsciously to ourselves, be the means 
of introducing to Jesus one who will be of far more service 
than ever we could have been. It was Simon Peter whom 
Andrew brought to Christ. We do not hear much in the 
New Testament of Andrew's after- history, but if he had 
never done any thing else than lead his brother to the Lord, 
it was worth living for just to do that ; and when we get to 
heaven, we shall see that the lustre of Peter's crown casts 
special radiance on Andrew's face. When we read of the 
conversions on the Day of Pentecost ; of the heroic protest 
before the council ; of the conversion of Cornelius ; and 
above all, when we peruse those two precious letters which 
Peter has indited, let us not forget that, humanly speaking, 
but for Andrew, Peter would not have been himself a Chris- 
tian. Doubtless, God could have called him by some other 
instrumentality, but he made use of Andrew to teach us the 
lesson that, in doing the good that lies at our hands, we may 
at length really do more for the Church than we could have 
effected by more ostentatious effort in other places. Let 
the lowly and timid, therefore, take courage. They may 
not have shining talents or commanding position, yet by 
working where they are they may be honored in bringing to 
Jesus some who shall take foremost places in the Church, 
or become leaders in some missionary or evangelistic move- 
ment. 

Many of the greatest men the Church has known have 
been converted through the agency of individuals all but 
unknown. A humble dissenting minister, whose name was 
scarcely heard of a few miles from his manse, was honored 
to be of signal service to Thomas Chalmers in the crisis- 
hour of his history ; and I have heard Mr. Spurgeon tell 



Finding and Bringing. 35 

how he was led to the Lord by a sermon preached by an 
unlettered man in a Primitive Methodist chapel. 

Some of the greatest theologians the Church has ever 
seen, and some of the most useful ministers who have ever 
lived, have been made and molded by so common a thing 
as a mother's influence. Robert Pollok, whose " Course of 
Time " used to be a household book throughout Scotland, 
said once of his poem, "It has my mother's divinity in it." 
Mother, will you take note of that ? Many a time you have 
regretted that you could not take part in any public work for 
Christ, by reason of the bond that held you to your boy. Re- 
gret no more, but bring that boy to Christ, and he will live 
to do his own work and his mother's too ; and when the 
crown is placed upon his head its diamonds will flash new 
glory upon your countenance. 

The sum of what we have been saying, then, is this : that 
each of us should begin to do all that he can, where he is, 
for Christ. But if we would succeed in that effort, we must 
be sure that we have already found him for ourselves. A 
minister had preached a simple sermon upon the text, " He 
brought him to Jesus ;" and as he was going home, his 
daughter, walking by his side, began to speak of what she 
had been hearing. She said, " I did so like that sermon." 
"Well," inquired her father, " whom are you going to bring 
to Jesus ?" A thoughtful expression came upon her counte- 
nance as she replied, " I think, papa, that I will just bring 
myself to him." "Capital!" said her father; " that will do 
admirably for a beginning." This, brethren, is the true 
starting-point. We must be good, if we would do good. 
Bring yourselves to Jesus, therefore ; and, as iron by being 
rubbed upon a magnet, becomes itself magnetic, so you, be- 
ing united to Christ, will become partakers in his attractive 
power, and will draw men with "the cords of a man," which 
are also "the bands of love." 



III. 

FISHERS OF MEN. 
Luke v., i-ii ; Matthew iv., 18-22; Mark ii., i6-2a 

MANY things in the ministry of Jesus had occurred 
between that day on which Simon Peter had been 
introduced to him by Andrew, and this on which, from his 
boat-pulpit on the Lake of Galilee, he addressed the multi- 
tudes that lined its banks. From the scene of John's bap- 
tism on the river Jordan, the Master, accompanied by some 
of those who had cast in their lot wiih him, repaired to Gal- 
ilee, where he signalized his entrance upon public life by 
performing the miracle of turning water into wine. Thence 
he went up to Jerusalem to keep the Passover, and while 
there he drove the traders from the Temple, and wrought 
many marvelous works. It was at this time, also, that he 
received Nicodemus by night, and had with him that im- 
portant interview described by the fourth Evangelist. 

From Jerusalem, the Lord passed into the rural districts 
of Judea ; but learning there that the faithful Baptist had been 
cast into prison by Herod, he returned to Galilee, taking 
Samaria on his way, and meeting thus the woman to whom 
he spoke so faithfully, yet so lovingly, at the well of Jacob. 
From Galilee, after having performed a second miracle at 
Cana, he went to Nazareth, where he entered into the syn- 
agogue on the Sabbath, and expounded one of Isaiah's pre- 
dictions with immediate reference to himself. But his 
townsmen were filled with enmity against him, and even 
sought to put him to death, so that he withdrew to Caperna- 



Fishers of Men. 37 

um, where he fixed his residence for the time ; and it was 
during the first weeks of his sojourn there that those events 
occurred to which our attention is now to be directed. 

I have been thus particular in enumerating these inci- 
dents, that you may have clearly before you the fact that Pe- 
ter and his partners had returned to their ordinary pursuits 
after their first fellowship with Jesus. It is impossible, in- 
deed, to fix at what particular point they left him and went 
back to their business. Probably, on his return from Jeru- 
salem, instead of accompanying him to Nazareth, they went 
back to their homes. But, however that may have been, 
they were once more in their boats and with their nets. 

Nor let that seem strange. They had become disciples. 
But they had not yet been called to the apostleship. Now, 
to be a disciple, it is not necessary that we should leave our 
secular calling and spend all our time in preaching Christ. 
All that is needed is, that we serve him in our business; and 
so, if before, this time they had left all their common pur- 
suits, they might have been chargeable with presumption, 
and with running before they had been sent. Only here 
and there a Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom, is com- 
manded to leave his desk and give himself to the ministry 
of the Gospel ; the great majority of men are called to follow 
Jesus while they remain at " the receipt of custom ;" and the 
ministry of such a life, maintained in holiness and integrity 
for Jesus' sake, may be only less powerful, if indeed it be 
less powerful, than that of the consecrated preacher. 

The scene which is painted for us by the Evangelist here 
is one of the most fascinating description. It is morning 
by the Lake of Gennesaret, and the cities and villages 
around its banks have awaked to the activities of life. The 
hills on its eastern shore are baring their heads to greet the 
day ; and the waters rippling under the early breeze are re- 
flecting, in myriad flashes, the gay sunbeams. To the right, 



38 Peter, the Apostle. 

as we look across the lake, lies the city of Capernaum, so 
near us that we may hear almost the hum of its inhabit- 
ants ; and to the left, the fleet of fishing-boats, which have 
been out all night, are standing in toward Bethsaida. Far 
away along the shining beach the eye catches a glimpse of 
Magdala and Tiberias, while everywhere there are indica- 
tions of stirring energy among the people. Here was no 
place of solitude, like that which one finds by the shore of a 
Scottish Highland lake, or on the margin of a hidden sea in 
the depths of our own wilderness; but, instead, a centre of 
teeming, earnest life. " It was," as Stanley has remarked, 
" to the Roman Palestine almost what the manufacturing 
districts are to England. Nowhere, except in the capital 
itself, could the Lord Jesus have found such a sphere for his 
works and words of mercy ; from no other centre could his 
fame have so gone throughout all Syria ; nowhere else could 
he have drawn round him the vast multitudes that hung 
upon his lips."* 

See how they throng him now ! He has but just made 
his appearance, coming either from his mountain closet or 
his city home ; yet, as he moves along the shore, a constantly 
increasing multitude follows him, until the pressure becomes 
inconveniently great ; and then, that he may the more easi- 
ly and effectively address the people, he goes into Simon's 
boat, and, getting him to push off a few yards, "he sat down 
and taught the people out of the ship." Some parable from 
the scene that was around him ; some tender appeal, or 
some solemn warning, or some far-reaching and impressive 
enforcement of a spiritual principle — we are not told what 
— was the subject of his discourse. But, whatever it was, it 
would gather in upon him the eager attention of the listen- 
ers, while the fishermen by his side, forgetting their nets, 

* Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine," p. 368. 



Fishers of Men. 39 

would cease their work for the time, as they listened to his 
words. 

But now the discourse is ended, and the Lord, turning to 
Simon, bids him "Launch out into the deep, and let down 
your nets for a draught." The fisherman is astonished, and 
replies, not in unbelief, but in amazement, " Master, we have 
toiled all night, and have taken nothing ; nevertheless, at 
thy word, i will let down the net." He did not mean to 
say that it would be useless, because the night was always 
the most favorable time for fishing ; and since they had been 
unsuccessful then, there was no probability that they would 
get any thing now. But his answer was an acknowledg- 
ment of failure, and an expression of faith triumphant in 
failure : " I should not have thought of doing any thing of 
the kind ; but if thou sayest it, I will let down the net, and 
look yet for success !" And his faith was amply rewarded, 
for they inclosed such a multitude of fishes that the net be- 
gan to break, and only by the help of James and John, his 
partners, could Simon secure his haul. Even as it was, both 
of their boats were filled with the finny freight, so that they 
were all startled. 

But the effect on Simon was electric. With that quick in- 
sight, and that prompt yielding to the impulse of the mo- 
ment, which, as we proceed in his history, we shall discov- 
er were characteristic of him, he saw the glory of Messiah's 
Godhead, streaming through the miracle,* and fell at his 
knees, saying, " Depart from me ; for I am a sinful man, O 
Lord." 

* For miracle it was, betokening that " Jesus as the Lord of nature, the 
ideal man, the second Adam, in whom is fulfilled the words of David, 
' thou hast put all things under his feet, the fowl of the air, and the fish 
of the sea,' did, by the secret yet mighty magic of his will, wield and 
guide the unconscious creatures so as to make them subserve the higher 
interests of his kingdom." — Trench on the Miracles,^. 131. 



40 Peter, the Apostle. 

But Christ was better to him than his words besought, for 
he said, " Fear not ; from henceforth thou shalt catch men ;" 
and, looking round upon the others, he said to them, " Fol- 
low me, and I will make you fishers of men." Nor did they 
hesitate as to their response, for, "when they had brought 
their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him." 

This scene marks another stage in Peter's history. Let 
us see what we may learn from it for our direction and en- 
couragement. 

We may, in the first place, be reminded that discipleship 
comes before apostleship. Peter had been, for at least some 
months, a docile learner in the school of Christ before he 
was called here to forsake all, and follow him as an apostle. 
They who would teach others about the Lord must first 
be acquainted with him themselves. It is, indeed, true that 
God may sometimes employ the agency of one who is him- 
self unconverted as a means of leading others to the knowl- 
edge of the Lord Jesus. Thus it is not at all improbable 
that the title which Pilate, himself a time-serving trimmer, 
placed over the cross of Christ to this effect, " This is Jesus 
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," was one of the means 
used by the Spirit in leading the penitent thief to present 
the prayer, " Lord, remember me, when thou comest into thy 
kingdom." But that is not his ordinary method. Usually 
he employs one who is already a disciple to bring others to 
himself. 

Now, this is a most important matter for those of us who, 
as preachers, or missionaries, or Sabbath-school teachers, or 
parents, are striving to commend Christ to others. Do we 
know him ourselves? My brethren and fellow-laborers, that 
is for us the question of questions ! One may be like a light- 
ship, guiding others into the harbor, and yet himself so anch- 
ored that he can not enter it ! Like Noah's carpenters, we 
may help to build an ark for the salvation of others, and yet 



Fishers of Men. 41 

perish ourselves. What a fearful possibility ! Let us take 
care that it be not actualized in us ! 

We complain sometimes that we can not interest those 
whom we are trying to instruct. We are discouraged be- 
cause we see small results from our exertions. May not the 
reason be that we are not truly converted ourselves ? That 
was a wise advice which an aged minister gave to a young 
clergyman : "Whatever goes wrong, always blame yourself." 
And we may almost always conclude that, if we are not suc- 
cessful in winning souls, the reason is either because our 
own souls are not yet won, or because they are cold and 
-destitute of the highest energy. It is only light that can en- 
lighten ; it is only fire that can kindle flarne ; hence, if we 
would illuminate others, we must have within ourselves the 
true light ; and if we would set the hearts of others in a 
blaze, we must take the live coal with which we do so from 
off the burning altar of our own spirits. Disciples first, my 
hearers ! It is good to work for Christ ; but the first thing 
is to let him work in us ! " Freely have ye received, freely 
give " — that was his charge to those whom he first sent out. 
They could not give until they had received. So, if there be 
one here to-night, himself unconverted, who is a Sabbath- 
school teacher, or a worker in some Christian enterprise, let 
me beseech him, now and here, to open his own heart for the 
reception of the blessing of Christ's salvation ; and that will 
give his lessons a power, and his labor a success, which he 
has never known before. 

We may be reminded, in the second place, that the knowl- 
edge of self, obtained through the discovery of Christ, is one 
of the main elements of power in seeking to benefit others. 
It is not a little remarkable, that when God has called some 
of his greatest servants to signal service, he has begun by 
giving them a thorough revelation of themselves, through 
the unveiling to them of himself. Thus, when he appeared 



42 Peter, the Apostle. 

to Moses at the bush, the first effect was that " Moses trem- 
bled, and durst not behold ;"* and the ultimate issue was 
that he cried, " O my Lord, I am not eloquent ; but I am 
slow of speech, and of a slow tongue '* Forty years before, 
he had been ready enough to trust in himself, and stand 
forth as the deliverer of his people. But that very self-con- 
fidence betokened his unfitness for the work which he as- 
sumed, and now his self-distrust, albeit he let it go too far, 
was an indication of his preparation for the enterprise which 
Jehovah set before him. So, again, when Gideon at his 
threshing-floor was visited by the angel of the Lord, who 
summoned him to go forth and deliver his people from the 
hand of the Midianites, the exclamation of his heart was,f 
" O my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel ? behold, my 
family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my fa- 
ther's house." In the same manner, when IsaiahJ saw 
God's glory in the temple, the result was that he cried out, 
" Woe is me ! for I am undone ; because lama man of un- 
clean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean 
lips : for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts ;" 
and this, together with the purifying of his lips, was the fit- 
ting prelude to his reception of the great commission to 
speak to men in Jehovah's name. 

Now, we see precisely the same thing in the case of Peter 
here. He recognized the deity of Jesus through the miracle; 
but the light of that Godhead did at the same time flash into 
his own heart, and reveal him unto himself as he had never 
had himself revealed unto him before. Nay, the contrast 
between the holy God and the unholy self was so terrible, 
and the recoil of the one from the other so tremendous, that 
he cried out, " Depart from me ; for I am a sinful man, O 

* Exodus iv., 10 ; Acts vii., 31. t Judges vi., 11-15. 

t Isaiah vi., 1-8. 



Fishers of Men. 43 

Lord !" Then came the Master's " Fear not," with its sooth- 
ing influence; and thus, through his discovery of himself and 
his knowledge of his Lord, he was prepared for his apostolic 
service. 

A knowledge of his own heart, and an experimental ac- 
quaintance with Christ — these are, next to the accompany- 
ing agency of the Holy Ghost, the mightiest elements of the 
preacher's power ; and by the preacher here, I mean, not the 
minister only, but any one who seeks to witness for Christ. 
Those with whom you have to do are men like yourselves; 
and that which has found its way to your heart will find its 
way to theirs. They are environed with the same beset- 
ments as those which surround you. They have to do battle 
with the same temptations as those with which you have to 
contend. The help which supported you will sustain them ; 
and the Saviour who delivered you can deliver them. 

I have seen a house-maid in one of our great hotels take a 
skeleton-key and pass into every chamber of a spacious cor 
ridor, laying open the contents of each, and setting to work 
in its purification. Now, such a skeleton-key is the knowl 
edge of his own heart, to the minister of Christ. It enables 
him to unlock the hearts of others, and enter into them and 
turn out their hidden things, so that, as he proceeds, his 
hearers cry, "Who told him all that? He seems to be read- 
ing the very innermost secrets of my soul." Who told him ? 
I will answer. It was Jesus, when, in the hour of his dis- 
covery of the Saviour, the light of the Godhead gleamed in 
upon his own heart, and let him see himself. But mere self- 
knowledge is not enough : it must be combined with, nay, 
consequent upon, the knowledge of the Lord. Oh, how far 
Peter saw into the heart of Christ through that " Fear not !" 
It showed him that, bad as he had found out that he was, 
the Lord was willing to receive him still, and so it gave him 
the assurance that he was able to save others as vile as him- 



44 Peter, the Apostle. 

self. Doubtless, therefore, the remembrance of this " Fear 
not " was one of the factors of his power on the Day of Pen- 
tecost, when, even to "Jerusalem sinners," he could say, " Re- 
pent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." 

Nor is Peter's case singular here. You have an instance 
of the same thing in Bunyan, although in his experience the 
discipline spread over years, instead of being, as here, con- 
centrated into a moment. How he loathed himself for long 
before he heard the Lord's gracious "Fear not!" and yet, 
terrible as the ordeal was, if he had not gone through it, he 
had never written his immortal allegory, or told his thrill- 
ing story of "grace abounding to the chief of sinners." 

So, too, John Newton passed through the same terrible 
tunnel to his destination in the pulpit. William Jay, of 
Bath, tells the following story of an interview with him. 
" When I, one day, called upon him, he said, ' I am glad to 
see you, for I have just received a letter from Bath, and 
you may know something of the writer,' mentioning his 
name. I told him I did, and that he had been for years a 
hearer of mine, but he was a most awful character, and 'al- 
most in all evil.' ' But,' said he, ' he writes now as a peni- 
tent.' I said, - He may be such ; but if he be, I shall never 
despair of the conversion of any one again.' 'Oh,' said he, 
' I never did, since God saved me.' " That confidence in 
Christ's almightiness to save ! Who can tell how much it 
added to John Newton's power? "Since he saved me!" 
Who can doubt that the memory of that gave tenderness 
to his heart for sinners such as he had been ? On the wall 
of his study at Olney, over the place where his desk stood, 
he had written, in very large letters, these words, " Remem- 
ber that thou wast a bondsman in the land of Egypt, and 
the Lord thy God redeemed thee ;"* and every reader of his 
letters feels that the memory of that experience is throbbing 
through all these heart utterances. Read thyself thorough- 



Fishers of Men. 45 

ly in the light of the manifestation to thee of the glory of 
Christ, and that will give thee power in dealing with other 
men for him. Go to thy work in self-abasement and self- 
distrust, but with confidence in him, and to thee, too, O hum- 
ble teacher, Christ will say as unto Peter, " Fear not ; from 
henceforth thou shalt catch men." 

We are reminded, in the third place, that the work of the 
Christian ministry demands the concentration of the whole 
man upon it. These first apostles "forsook all, and followed 
Christ." This was their response to the call to active and 
official service by the Lord. Their ordination came later ; 
but their acceptance of the call was now, and was signalized 
by their withdrawal from their ordinary pursuits. "They 
forsook all." It was a poor "all," some have said — "two 
boats, and a few nets ;" but it was not so poor, after all; for, 
as we saw in our last lecture, there is good reason for be- 
lieving, that though very far from being wealthy in the mod- 
ern sense of that word, Peter and his partners were in cir- 
cumstances of comfort ; and, in any case, what they did leave 
was their all. 

Now, let no one suppose that Jesus, by requiring this sac- 
rifice from them, has branded ordinary secular labor so called 
with dishonor. On the contrary, he whose own hands had 
been hardened by the carpenter's hammer, has thereby given 
dignity — I had almost said divinity — to manual toil. But he 
wished these men to know, and his ministers of every after- 
age to learn, that the work of seeking after, and caring for 
souls, was enough for all the energies of their natures, and 
all the ambition of their hearts. And so, though occasion- 
ally they reverted to their original calling, they did, from this 
time forward in the main, and, so far as appears, from the 
day of Pentecost, wholly keep themselves for their apostolic 

* "Autobiography of Rev. William Jay," pp. 275, 277. 



46 Peter, the Apostle. 

labors. It may be said, indeed, that Paul, after entering 
upon his public work, is found both at Ephesus and at Cor- 
inth, making tents in the workshop of Aquila ; but that case, 
as the apostle himself is very careful to explain, was quite 
exceptional ; and his exhortation to Timothy, " Give thyself 
wholly to them," indicates what his judgment, in all ordinary 
cases, was. 

He who would be a minister of Christ must be content to 
turn away from all other avenues to eminence, how inviting 
soever they may appear. The gains of the merchant, the 
fame of the philosopher, the influence of the statesman, the 
glory of the discoverer, are not for him. Into the field of 
authorship he can enter properly only when he is on his Mas- 
ter's business, and when he is seeking either to save souls 
or to educate them in the knowledge of the oracles of God. 
His work is simply and only to seek and to save that which 
is lost ; and on that he must focus his whole time and force. 
Very beautifully, in connection with his own department of 
foreign missionary enterprise, did Robert Moffat, the father- 
in-law of Livingstone, and himself for fifty years a Christian 
apostle in South Africa, express this thought, when, being 
asked to write in a lady's album, he penned the following 

lines : 

" My album is in savage breasts, 
Where passion reigns and darkness rests, 

Without one ray of light : 
To write the name of Jesus there, 
To point to worlds both bright and fair, 
And see the pagan bow in prayer, 
Is all my soul's delight." 

And every true minister of the Gospel feels in a similar way 
in reference to his work. It must have him all. He casts 
no lingering look of regret over the pursuits he used to love, 
or the studies in which he once was interested. All these 
things he lays, with Peter's boats and nets, and Paul's polit- 



Fishers of Men. 47 

ical ambitions, upon the altar for Christ ; and he has his re- 
ward in the joy of his work and in the peculiar delight, the 
purest allotted to mortals, of bringing sinners to the knowl- 
edge of their Saviour. His old fellow-students may be met 
by him in places of honor and emolument ; and though he 
may have stood higher than they in their classes, and might 
have looked, had he entered upon other departments of la- 
bor, to have still kept ahead of them, he is content to be as 
he is. Content ! oh, how much more than content ! He is en- 
thusiastically devoted to his calling, and would not give the 
joy of being instrumental in the saving of one soul for all the 
glittering prizes which all other pursuits have in their offer. 

Let no one seek the ministry who is not ready for this sac- 
rifice 1 but when it is made, it will cease to be a sacrifice, and 
become a joy ; and he who made it will enter into the fel- 
lowship of the Redeemer's delight, as he sees the fruit of 
his soul travail, and will cheer himself with this holy song : 

" Tis not a cause of small import 
The pastor's care demands ; 
'Tis what might fill an angel's heart, 
And filled the Saviour's hands." 

If a man can stay in any other calling, he is not yet desig- 
nated for the ministry. His true call to that noble work is, 
when necessity is laid upon him, and he feels he must leave 
all to enter upon it. Hence, though it was quaintly ex- 
pressed, and a little apt, at first, to be misunderstood, that 
was a wise advice which a professor gave to a young man 
who came to consult him about the propriety of his becom- 
ing a preacher of the Gospel : "Don't be a minister, if you 
can help it." He who can not help being a minister is the 
really Christ-called man ; and before such a one there is a 
career of honor and usefulness, ay, and of such happiness too, 
as rarely falls to the lot of other men. Is there no youth 
before me, to-night, who hears now the Saviour's call, " Fol- 
low me, and from henceforth thou shalt catch men ?" 



48 Peter, the Apostlf. 

We are reminded, in the fourth place, that the higher life 
of the ministry lifts into itself and utilizes all the experiences 
of the lower life that preceded it. We see, in tracing the 
history of Paul, how his residence in the Greek city of Tar- 
sus, and his training under the tutorship of Gamaliel, were, 
all unconsciously to him at the time, real preparations for 
his apostolic work. And every successful preacher in the 
present day will acknowledge that the observations which 
he made, and the lessons which he learned, in the store, or 
the office, or the editorial chair, have been of signal service 
to him in his public ministrations. The curriculum of col- 
lege, and the course at the seminary, have been, indeed, un- 
speakably valuable ; but the university of daily life was his 
first "alma mater," and now that he has attained the field 
of his proper and peculiar possession, his early experiences 
come back upon him, to his signal advantage. 

In the case of Peter here, the very words which the Lord 
addressed to him would be sufficient to send him back con- 
tinually in thought to his old life by the shores of Gennes- 
aret. "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 
Fishers of men ! What a light did our Lord throw for Peter 
over his new occupation by that phrase ! Look at it for a 
moment or two ; for it has lessons for all Christian workers 
as well as for ministers of the Gospel. 

For one thing, it tells us that, if we would catch men, we 
must use the right kind of net. Is it not the case that the 
meshes of the nets we commonly employ are so wide that 
they let every body through ? We speak of the Gospel as 
if it were something far away from our hearers. We dwell 
upon it as a history eighteen hundred years old, but fail to 
make men feel that they have a present and pressing duty 

in regard to it. "When I hear Dr. preach," said one, 

" he makes me think a great deal of him ; but when I listen 
to Mr. , he sends me away with a very poor opinion of 



Fishers of Men. 49 

myself." Depend upon it, the latter minister had a net with 
narrow meshes ! We may marvel at the skill of a man who 
is throwing stones at a mark ; but when another comes and 
commences to throw stones at us, ah ! that is a different af- 
fair. So, in all our pulpits, I fear we have too much aiming 
at marks, out of and away from the people, and too little 
aiming at men's hearts ! When, here and there and every- 
where in the audience, individuals are saying within them- 
selves, "That means me" the preacher is working with a 
proper net ; but when there is nothing but a hush of admi- 
ration of his words, he might as well have held his peace. 

For another thing, this phrase tells us that we must fol- 
low men to their haunts if we would catch them for Christ. 
Three years ago, I was living during the summer months on 
the beautiful Bay of Northport, on the Long Island coast, 
and one morning there was a great and unusual stir upon 
the waters. A number of boats came in whose crews began 
at once to cast and haul their nets. They had never been 
there before during all the weeks I had lived in that neigh- 
borhood. Why did they come then ? They were following 
the fish, for they had seen a shoal pass in before them. So 
we must go where men congregate, if we would win them for 
Christ. As Archbishop Leighton once said, "We must fol- 
low sinners to their houses, ay, even to their ale-houses." If 
men will not come into our churches, let us go out of our 
churches after them. Let us organize, if need be, a visita- 
tion from house to house ; let us go to the halls they fre- 
quent, and the streets and lanes they inhabit, and then we 
may have the delight of seeing this "a city of truth." 

Finally, this phrase teaches us that we ought to improve 
special seasons of opportunity. There are times when, in 
the fisherman's boat, one may toil all night, and for many 
nights together, and catch nothing \ and there are other oc- 
casions when every cast of the net is rewarded by an ertor- 

3 



50 Peter, the Apostle. 

mous draught : and you never find the fisherman idle when 
the " take " is large. So it is also in the experience of the 
Christian worker. Sometimes, let him be ever so earnest, he 
seems to be doing no good, and is made to cry constantly, 
" Who hath believed my report ?" But then, again, he has 
periods of success. These are the days of revival, when 
multitudes on every hand are "seeking for Jesus." Such 
seasons he ought to improve to the utmost, and if he can not 
draw in the net alone, let him beckon to his fellow-laborers 
to help him. Blessed times of refreshing ! oh, how we long 
for -their enjoyment! Send them to us, thou quickening 
Spirit ! And send with them the energy, the strength, and 
the enthusiasm to make the best of them, for the glory of 
Christ in the salvation of men. 

But there may be those among our Christian workers who 
may be crying, " How can I become thus skillful in winning 
souls ?" and to them, as to myself, I would reply, Obey the 
Master's command. He said, "Follow me, and I will make 
you fishers of men." Follow him, then, brethren. Keep 
close to him ; the nearer, the better. You can not be too 
near him, and your very proximity to him will give you suc- 
cess. " That man preaches," said one, concerning John 
Brown, of Haddington, " as if the Lord Jesus were at his 
elbow." It was his nearness to his Lord that gave him 
power. Keep close to him, therefore, and, whether you 
preach in the pulpit or the Sabbath-school, in the home or 
in the store, your words and your lives will catch men for 
Christ.* 

* In the preceding discourse the reader will discover some similarity 
of thought and expression to one of the author's lectures on the "Minis- 
try of the Word ;" but he has preferred to let the passages remain, 
rather than destroy the unity of the exposition here by removing them. 



IV. 

WALKING ON THE WATERS. 

Matthew xiv., 22-33. 

ACCORDING to the commonly received chronology of 
the gospels, a full year elapsed between the incidents 
which were reviewed in our last lecture and those which 
are recorded in the narrative to which I now invite your at- 
tention. Much had occurred in that interval which it would 
be important for us to consider, if we were engaged in the 
investigation of the public ministry of our Lord ; but only 
two things were done in it, so far, at least, as the evangelists 
have given us information, which had any special bearing 
upon Peter. Of these, the first was the healing of his wife's 
mother, who was lying at Capernaum sick of a " great fever." 
This was in itself considered a comparatively unimportant 
miracle ; yet, from the record of its performance, we learn, 
to the confusion of all those who would insist upon the celi- 
bacy of the clergy as essential, that Peter was a married 
man ; and also, to the rebuke of those who are continually 
sneering at mothers-in-law, that Peter had a heart large 
enough to love, and a house big enough to receive, the 
mother of her whom he had chosen as the companion of 
his life. 

The second was Peter's ordination to the apostolic office 
along with the eleven whom Christ had chosen to be his 
specially commissioned witnesses. This solemn act was 
performed by Jesus, after a night of prayer upon the mount- 
ain j and, in connection with it, he addressed to them that 



52 Peter, the Apostle. 

discourse upon the plain which has so much in common 
with his Sermon on the Mount. In all this Peter was con- 
cerned no more than the other eleven ; but it is remarkable 
that in all the lists of the twelve, varying though they do 
in other respects, his name stands first.* Now, this is not 
merely accidental. There was a certain primacy given to 
Peter among the twelve, and because the Papists have per- 
verted that into a sanction of their claim of supremacy for 
the pope, we must not be withheld from recognizing it. 
Whether on the score of age, or, as is most likely, on that 
of character and ability, he was, by common consent — nay, 
as we shall see in a later stage of his history, by the appoint- 
ment of Christ himself — the first of the twelve. He was 
their spokesman on all great occasions ; he was the eager 
confessor for the company when any expression of their 
faith was asked. But, then, he had no official prerogative 
over them. His position was one of honor, and not of 
power ; one of influence, and not of authority ; and even if 
it were to be granted that the Bishop of Rome is his suc- 
cessor, that would form no foundation for the claim which 
the pope makes to the most absolute supremacy over the 
souls and the most unlimited authority over the lives of men. 
But now we turn to the contemplation of that night-scene 
on the Lake of Galilee which is described in the narrative 
of Matthew. The apostles had just returned from their first 
ministry through Galilee ; and as, in the exuberance of their 
joy, they were telling Jesus " all things, both what they had 
done and what they had taught," the disciples of John came 
to cast a gloom over their gladness by the information 
that Herod had beheaded their master, to gratify Herodias. 
These news at once revived in Jesus the remembrance of 
the nobleness of John, and awakened within him the pre- 



* See Luke vi., 14-16 ; Matt, x., 2-4 ; Mark iii., 16-19 ; John xxi., 2. 



Walking on the Waters. 53 

sentiment of his own crucifixion, so that he longed for 
quietude and retirement. He saw that matters with him? 
too, were hastening to a crisis. Twice had he gone round 
the towns and cities of Galilee ; and though the multitudes 
crowded round him and " heard him gladly," he knew that 
they were looking for a Messiah of another sort than he 
was, and he foresaw that very soon they would have to 
choose between him and the idol which their own imagina- 
tion had set up. Hence, that he might prepare himself 
for the coming ordeal, and fortify his followers against the 
temptation that was in store for them, as well as secure 
for them a season of needed rest after their toil, he took 
them with him to the eastern shore of the lake. 

But the inconsiderate selfishness of the people utterly de- 
feated his plan. Seeing him setting out in the boat which 
he had secured and retained for his convenience,* they walk- 
ed round the head of Gennesaret in great numbers, and, im- 
mediately upon his landing, they flocked around him. They 
were cruel, but he was compassionate. So he did not send 
them away, but preached to them during a great portion of 
the day ; and when the evening drew on, he gave them a 
feast, miraculously provided for them from the five loaves 
and two fishes which a lad had brought with him in his 
sachel. The effect was great. The enthusiasm of the mul- 
titude was roused to the highest pitch. They cried out,* 
"This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the 
world," and they wished to " take him by force, to make 
him a king." His own immediate followers, too, had some 
sympathy with this desire, and so the fellowship of the mul- 
titude at such a time was no safe thing for them. There- 
fore he sent them away to cross the lake by themselves, 
and, after dismissing the multitude to their homes, he went 

* Mark iii., 9. t John vi., 14. 



54 Peter, the Apostle. 

up alone into the mountain to soothe and refresh his spirit 
by fellowship with his Father. 

While he was thus engaged, however, his disciples were 
contending with a furious storm, which had arisen with 
such force that, after toiling for nine hours, they made 
no more than "five and twenty or thirty furlongs." Nor 
need this surprise us ; for such hurricanes are by no 
means uncommon on an inland sea like that of Tiberias. 
Dr. Thomson tells us that he spent a night in the Wady 
Shukaiyif, which enabled him to sympathize with the disci- 
ples in the case before us. He says : " The sun had scarce- 
ly set when the wind began to rush down toward the lake, 
and it continued all night long with constantly increasing 
violence, so that, when we reached the shore next morning, 
the face of the lake was like a huge boiling caldron. In a 
wind like that, the disciples must have been driven quite 
across to Gennesaret, as we know they were. To under- 
stand the causes of these sudden and violent tempests, we 
must remember that the lake lies low — six hundred feet 
lower than the ocean ; that the vast and naked plateaus of 
the Jaulan rise to a great height, spreading backward to the 
wilds of the Hauran, and upward to snowy Hermon ; that 
the water -courses have cut out profound ravines and wild 
gorges, converging to the head of this lake; and that these 
act like gigantic funnels to draw down the cold winds from 
the mountains. On the occasion referred to, we subsequently 
pitched our tents at the shore, and remained for three days 
and nights exposed to this tremendous wind. We had to 
double pin all the tent-ropes, and frequently were obliged to 
hang with our whole weight upon them to keep the quivering 
tabernacle from being carried up bodily into the air. No 
wonder the disciples toiled and rowed hard all that night."* 

* " The Land and the Book," English edition, p. 374. 



Walking on the Waters. 55 

At length, as the dawn was drawing near, they beheld one 
moving majestically toward them, walking over the foaming 
waves ; but the sight only aggravated their misery, for, with 
the superstition of their times strong within them, they sup- 
posed it was a phantom from the other world, and they cried 
out for fear. But immediately the answer to their exclama- 
tion came in the Master's well-known voice, " I am ! be not 
afraid." I am ! What a singular announcement if he were 
only a man ! what a natural utterance if he were truly God ! 
For how can God reveal himself, except by the assertion of 
his existence ? Is not this another of those I AMS which 
were so often on the Saviour's lips, as the fourth Evangelist 
has testified? And is not the assertion here corroborated 
and confirmed by his miraculous march over the waters? 
There was one, at any rate, in the boat to whom the words 
and the action were alike significant, and he, not, as we 
might have imagined, the intuitional and keen -eyed John, 
but the warm-hearted and impulsive Peter, who replied, 
"Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." 

Nor were these words of doubt, as if still he hesitated 
whether the stranger were the Christ or not. Rather they 
were the utterance of faith : " Since thou art, let me be 
sharer with thee in the calm self-poise which can move thus, 
unaffected by the storm around thee, and unsubmerged by 
the waves beneath thee." It was not forwardness, as some 
would have us to believe, but it was faith quickened by 
affection ; and, therefore, the Lord said to him, "Come. 
And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked 
on the water to go to Jesus." So for a time all was well. 
But, taking his eyes from the Master's face, and looking 
down upon the yawning billows, he was afraid, and began 
to sink, and cried, " Lord, save me !" The appeal was not 
in vain, for " immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and 
caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, where- 



56 Peter, the Apostle. 

fore didst thou doubt?" Then, when this singular episode 
was over, Jesus went into the boat with his followers ; the 
storm ceased ; and as they reached their destination " they 
that were in the ship came and worshiped him, saying, Of 
a truth thou art the Son of God." 

Now, it is not difficult to discover the characteristics of 
Peter as they come out here. He wore no mask. What- 
ever he felt for the moment was sure to be expressed either 
by his words or his actions. He carried his heart upon his 
sleeve, and was ever unsophisticated and genuine. The 
cunning duplicity of the traitor was foreign to his nature, and 
even the caution of the prudent man was wanting in his 
disposition. He never forecast the future, or attempted to 
count the cost ; and so we account for the fact that, with a 
certain generous and eager impetuosity, there was combined 
in him an occasional infirmity of purpose or weakness of 
character. He easily " slopped over " on one side, and that 
was invariably followed by a similar occurrence on the other. 
In the case before us, the ardor of his love to the Lord led 
him to make this singular proposal — so far ahead of any 
thing that any of the others in the boat had thought of — 
that he should be permitted to walk upon the waters. But 
no sooner is his wish granted to him than the reaction 
comes, and he sinks into a weaker faith than that which the 
least of his brethren exercised. 

Now, it is easy to blame here, and to say that either Pe- 
ter should not have been so eager to meet his Lord, or he 
should have maintained his faith unto the last. But we must 
not forget that the very height to which, for the moment, his 
faith had attained exposed him, more than others, to the 
temptation to unbelief. They who have never walked on 
the waters, but who sit securely in their boats, are not so 
liable to sink, as is the Peter who goes marching over the 
waves. The men of even temperament who are rarely, if 



Walking on the Waters. 57 

ever, discomposed, can not understand an experience such 
as this. They know nothing either of ups or downs. They 
are never down, because they are never up ; and so they are 
apt to regard such spiritual alternations as this as either a 
mystery or a lie. When they read the sighings and cryings 
of David at one time, and his ecstatic utterances at another, 
they declare that they are either exaggerations or untruths. 
But all this springs from their own commonplace natures. 
Where the hills are highest, the ravines are deepest ; and 
when, by an outburst of faith, one rises to fellowship with 
Jesus in his walk over the waves, the very elevation places 
him in new peril. Peter, therefore, must not be unduly 
blamed for his sinking. At least, they who have never tried 
his dangerous walk upon the deep ought to be the last to 
ridicule his lack of faith when he began to be afraid ; and 
if we hint at a fault at all, it is that he did not learn the 
lesson which this self- revelation might have taught him, 
and so save himself from that greater jeopardy in which 
he placed himself when he entered the palace of the high- 
priest, and of which this was a faint rehearsal and parabolic 
warning. 

But now, leaving the impulsive apostle for the time, let us 
see what lessons of admonition and of cheer we may learn 
for ourselves, from the consideration of this interesting epi- 
sode. 

And, first, we learn that when his disciples are in dan- 
ger of being carried away by earthly influences, Christ 
sends them into trial. Matthew tells us that the Lord "con- 
strained " his disciples to get into the boat. The word is 
very strong. It might even be rendered he " forced " them, or 
he "compelled" them, to embark, and it indicates that it was 
only by the exercise of his authority that he prevailed upon 
them to set out. Now, why this constraint? Some answer, 
because he desired that they should become accustomed to 



58 Peter, the Apostle. 

act for themselves without his presence. As Trench has 
said, " He will not have them to be clinging only to the sense 
of his bodily presence : they must not be as ivy, needing al- 
ways an outward support, but as hardy forest-trees which can 
brave a blast ; and this time he puts them forth into the dan- 
ger alone, even as some loving mother-bird thrusts her fledg- 
lings from the nest, that they may find their own wings and 
learn to use them."* And, no doubt, something of this may 
have entered into his design ; yet that was not so likely to 
have been the reason for his procedure, as it would have 
been if the circumstance had occurred at a date nearer to 
the close of his ministry, when he was just about to with- 
draw from them altogether. Hence, I can not quite accept 
that as an explanation of the course which he here adopted. 
But when I open the Gospel of John, I find a sufficient rea- 
son suggested in a moment, for we are there informed that 
the multitude wished to "take Jesus by force and make him 
a king." Now, in cherishing this desire and seeking to act 
upon it, the people were adopting a thoroughly false idea of 
the royalty of the Messiah. They thought that the long-ex- 
pected deliverer of whom their prophets had spoken was to 
be a temporal potentate, and that, gathering earthly forces 
around him, he would break the yoke of the Roman oppress- 
or, set up his throne in Jerusalem, and distribute among his 
adherents the rewards of place and preferment. But of a 
kingdom founded upon truth and love, or of a royalty over 
the hearts and consciences and lives of men, they had not 
the very faintest conception. In seeking, therefore, to make 
Christ a king, though it seemed that they were conferring 
honor upon him, they were really doing their best to wreck 
the cause of which he was the head. They were repeating 
only in their own way, and, in a sense too, with love and 

* "Notes on the Miracles," p. 277. 



Walking on the Waters. 59 

loyalty to him, the temptation which Satan had set before 
him on the mountain when he offered him the crown without 
the cross ; and so he could not listen to their proposal. 

But the disciples, just at this stage in their development, 
were more in sympathy with the multitude than with their 
Master in this matter. They, too, desired to see him a king, 
as the request of James and John presented through their 
mother attests, and as even the question put to their Lord 
long afterward, on the very eve of his ascension, fully corrob- 
orates. So it was dangerous to let them remain in the com- 
pany of the crowd while this frenzy was upon them. Some- 
thing else must be found, which, for the time, will take their 
minds entirely from this seductive dream. Therefore, even 
by the exercise of constraint, he sent them away; and, very 
soon, they had enough to do to keep their boat from sinking, 
and had no thought to spare for the kingdom that a few 
hours ago seemed to be so near. 

Now, if this be a correct explanation of the case, does it 
not throw light on many of the trials that come upon God's 
people still ? Our afflictions are not merely chastisements to 
mark God's displeasure at sins of which we have been guilty, 
or restoratives to bring us back to the life from which we 
have partially fallen ; but they are frequently also preventives, 
and come to occupy our hearts, our energies, and our prayers, 
so that some temptation which we were courting or coquet- 
ting with shall lose its power to harm us. If we are bent on 
something which shall endanger our spirituality, God may 
send upon us a serious affliction just to keep us out of mis- 
chief. Can not you look back on many occasions in your 
own history when it was just thus with you? The world 
was too much with you ; you were becoming enamored of 
its pleasures and its pursuits ; you were just on the outer 
rim of the vortex, and were beginning to feel the fatal fasci- 
nation of the whirlpool, wherein so many are ingulfed, when, 



60 Peter, the Apostle. 

lo ! your beloved child was stricken with dangerous illness, 
or your business became dreadfully involved, or your life- 
companion was taken from your side, or you were yourself 
made the target at which the unscrupulous and the vicious 
shot the arrows of their scorn, and, in the pressure of the ter- 
rible calamity, you were delivered from the spell by which 
the world was holding you. Let us be thankful, brethren, 
that the arrangement of our lives is in the hand of One who 
sees the end from the beginning, and who makes thus our 
very buffeting with trial the means of holding us back from 
folly, and delivering us from the influence of evil. 

In the second place, we learn that while our trial lasts, 
the Lord prays for us. All during the night, the Saviour was 
on the mountain, and his eye was on that little boat, while 
his supplications ascended to his Father on behalf of those 
who were exposed to danger in it. These were weary hours 
to the disciples, and there was in their hearts, in spite of all 
their toil, an ever-present sense of danger ; yet, had they only 
known it, the prayers of Jesus were between them and ship- 
wreck, and, trusting in him, they might have been at rest, 
even in spite of the waves by which their boat was rocked. 
" Now all this happened unto them for an ensample," and 
the record of it is preserved here for us, that we may learn 
even under trial to be calm, trusting in the intercession of 
our great High-priest. 

Nor is this a solitary instance. The Church of Christ, as 
a whole, has often been like that little skiff on the boiling 
waters of Gennesaret ; but her Lord's prayers for her in the 
heavenly temple have prevailed on her behalf. And for 
martyrs, confessors, reformers, his intercession has availed, 
so that, amidst the fiercest antagonism of ungodly men, they 
have been enabled to possess their souls in patience. Cheer 
up, therefore, my afflicted brother ! I know that you are 
toiling in rowing, and that you seem to yourself to be in 



Walking on the Waters. 6i 

danger of being submerged ; but, though you can not see 
him, Jesus is praying for you, and his intercession is always 
efficacious. I fear we all make too little of the intercession 
of the Lord ! Our prayer-meetings are famous for the pres- 
entation of multitudinous requests that the petitions of the 
brethren should be offered for those who send them in, and 
I find no fault with that, for I believe in intercessory prayer; 
but do we ever seek to have Jesus himself pray for us ? 
Have we not too largely forgotten " that he ever liveth 
to make intercession for us ?" We are apt to imagine that, 
as on earth, the man who would intercede for a multitude 
must make his petitions so general that they descend not to 
the individual wants of each, so it must be with Jesus. 
But that is a mistake ; for the omniscience of his deity 
makes him acquainted with our undermost necessities, and 
the love and sympathy of his humanity dispose him to plead 
on our behalf. Is any among you afflicted ? then let him 
remember that " we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus 
Christ the righteous ;" and let the consciousness that he is 
interceding for him fill his heart with that peace which pass- 
eth understanding. 

In the third place, we learn that when Christ comes to us 
in our trials, we are enabled to rise with him above them. 
You observe how, as the Lord approached and spoke to 
them, Peter was strengthened to overcome his fear, and was 
even enabled to walk upon the waters. But concerning this 
coming of our Lord to us in trouble, the narrative before us 
is very suggestive ; and I must name two or three things 
that can not fail to strike the thoughtful reader as he medi- 
tates upon it. 

For one thing, the Lord did not come at once. He let 
the night wear on until the fourth watch, and then he went 
to their relief. Now, so it has frequently been with us ; our 
deliverances have not always come at the moment when the 



62 Peter, the Apostle. 

peril appeared. The Lord has left us to ourselves, that we 
might test our strength and discover our weakness. He has 
waited till the object of his discipline has been accomplished 
in us, and then he has approached us with his help. 

Again, the Lord came to these disciples over the very 
waves which constituted their trial. So he frequently makes 
his pathway into our hearts over the affliction which is at 
the moment distressing us. No one else can do that. For 
in every one of our distresses there are elements which we 
must keep hidden from our fellow-men. But these are en- 
tirely known to Christ, and it is just through these secret 
door-ways that he enters into our souls and brings with him 
his cheer and succor. Brother, is there no comfort for you 
here ? The Lord makes your trial his very avenue into 
your spirit. Look out for his coming, then, and see that you 
give him a right royal welcome when he does appear. 

Still farther, the disciples did not know Christ when he 
came, and aggravated their misery for themselves by sup- 
posing that he was a ghost. But let us not laugh at their 
superstition, lest we should be found also making merry at 
our own expense. Have we never mistaken Christ for a 
ghost, or perhaps, worse still, for an evil spirit? We have 
been in trouble, and matters, as we think, have come to a 
crisis, when something happens which at first we judge will 
surely bring ruin upon us, and we cry out for fear. We are 
undone ! the Lord hath forsaken us ! we are utterly over- 
whelmed ! But we wait a little, and, in a wonderful way, we 
see that what at first sight seemed our undoing has actually 
become our salvation. Have you never had an experience 
like that? And as you heard the Master's voice saying to 
you, " It is I ; be not afraid," have you not had your fears 
put to shame and reproved by his favor? Brethren, this 
night-scene on the Galilean lake was the rehearsal of much 
which is happening every day to the people of God ; and if 



Walking on the Waters. 6$ 

we studied it more closely we should have far fewer diffi- 
culties about what we call the mysteries of Providence. 

Once more : when Christ comes, and is recognized, he 
brings relief. The very recognition of him is a relief; for 
there is no real distress and no formidable danger to the 
Christian while his Lord is nigh. The presence of the Mas- 
ter may not immediately still the tempest, but it will en- 
able us to walk upon the waves. The man who can see Je- 
sus in his troubles always keeps them under him ; it is when 
he fails to keep his eye upon the Lord that they threaten to 
overwhelm him. So long as Peter was "looking unto Jesus," 
there was an influence beneath him that held him up above 
the waters ; but when he saw the wind boisterous, he began 
to sink. Ah ! how many of us are like him there ! We see 
the wind boisterous ; there is a likelihood that we shall lose 
money, or forfeit the good opinion of our fellows, or perhaps 
lose life itself; and so we let that which is immediately be- 
fore our eyes shut out from our hearts the remembrance of 
the glorious promise, " I will never leave thee nor forsake 
thee." Who can help being reminded by this whole history 
of that great reformer whose career has so recently been 
introduced into his drama by the English poet-laureate? I 
mean Archbishop Cranmer. In his life, generally, there was 
not much of the time-server ; but when the storm arose, and 
the wind was contrary, and he, Peter-like, essayed to walk 
over the waves, he began to sink, and unworthily signed that 
recantation which he so nobly canceled by his speech at his 
trial and his conduct at the stake. Brethren, let us be at 
once warned and encouraged by such experiences as these : 
warned, when we are in trouble, to preserve our faith in 
Christ ; and encouraged, even when we have lost our faith 
in part, and have begun to sink, to cry most earnestly for 
succor to him, who is a present help in time of trouble. 
Lord, save me ! I perish ! What short, sharp, agonizing 



64 Peter, the Apostle. 

cries are these ! When the soul is in anguish and in earnest, 
its prayers are telegram-like, both in their swiftness and in 
their brevity, and, thank God, Christ's answers are as prompt 
and as pointed as our prayers can be. Is there one here to- 
night who feels like Peter weltering in the waters ? Let him 
send up Peter's prayer, and he will have the same answer 
which the Lord vouchsafed to his impulsive apostle. He 
who " stilled the rolling waves of Galilee " can hush the 
tempest that is howling around thee. Make thy prayer, 
then, to him. 

" When the mighty storm is surging, 
Stars are hid, and wind is shrill, 
Satan striving, passion urging — 
Saviour, whisper, ' Peace, be still.' 

" When the waves of doubt and terror 
Toss me at their own wild will, 
Light seems dark, and truth seems error- 
Saviour, whisper, ' Peace, be still.' 

" When affliction's storms are howling, 
And its voice my soul doth thrill, 
Earth is black, and heaven is scowling — 
Saviour, whisper, ' Peace, be still.' 

" When the tide of Death's cold river 
Shocks me with its icy chill, 
Body quakes and billows quiver — 
Saviour, whisper, ' Peace, be still.' "* 

* " Poems by the late William Leighton," p. 77. 



v. 

THE FIRST CONFESSION. 

John vi., 66-71. 

ON the morning after their perilous night upon Gen- 
nesaret, and Peter's attempt to walk upon the waters, 
the disciples, having received Jesus into the boat with them, 
landed at Capernaum, where our Lord had his temporary 
home, and Peter his permanent abode. It is probable that 
they still contemplated the taking of a season of rest. At 
all events, if they were needing relaxation before they visited 
the eastern side of the lake, they would all require it much 
more after the fatigues of the day, and the vigils, the toil, 
and the dangers of the night. But there was little hope of 
retirement for them now ; for as soon as the people who had 
been with them on the previous day discovered that Jesus 
was no longer in their neighborhood, they also took boats, 
and crossed to Capernaum, seeking for him. Nor did he 
seclude himself from them. Inquirers are ever welcomed 
by the Lord, whether, like Nicodemus, they come to him by 
night ; or, like Zaccheus, they are moved to approach him 
by the merest curiosity \ or, like the multitudes in the pres- 
ent instance, they are impelled to follow him by some earth- 
ly consideration. He receiveth all alike, and gives to each 
the special instruction which he needs. To the Pharisee he 
speaks of the necessity of the new birth ; to the publican he 
discourses of his mission to seek and to save that which was 
lost ; and to those eager companies who lived upon the sen- 
sationalism of great miracles, and sought from him only such 



66 Peter, the Apostle. 

worldly advantage as they could make out of him, he ad- 
dresses one of the most spiritual and searching sermons that 
he ever preached. 

Rising from the miracle of the loaves, for a repetition of 
which on a larger scale, and in a different form, they were 
looking, he bids them become more earnest for the meat 
which endureth unto everlasting life than they were for the 
bread that perisheth, and he proclaims himself to be the 
Bread of Life, saying, " He that cometh to me shall never 
hunger ; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." 
Nay, going further still, he affirms that " except they eat the 
flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, they have no 
life in them." 

Now, these words implied that he was not the sort of Mes- 
siah whom they were expecting. They looked for a king, 
who should surround himself with all the glitter of earthly 
royalty, and restore to the tribes the splendor which they 
associated with the throne of David ; but, instead, he speaks 
of himself as the author of all spiritual life, and declares that 
unless they received him by a faith which should appropriate 
him to themselves, as thoroughly as one makes bread his 
own by eating it, they could not have everlasting life. This 
was to Jews like them a " hard saying." They had been ac- 
customed to plume themselves on being Abraham's children. 
They supposed that, as the descendants of the Father of the 
Faithful, they already had everlasting life ; and when they 
spake the day before of making him a king, they regard- 
ed themselves rather as his patrons than his beneficiaries. 
They thought more of giving honor to him than of being 
dependent upon him for their eternal salvation. No doubt 
they had an eye to their own interests. But they were look- 
ing only at their temporal advantage, and even that they were 
seeking to promote through their condescending to support 
him. They would cany him to his throne, and then, of 



The First Confession. 67 

course, they would expect their reward in the distribution of 
his favors. That was the programme which they had made 
out for themselves. But when they heard him claim as his 
own, by right of his inherent deity, a loftier greatness than 
any which they could confer, they said, " Is not this Jesus, 
the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know ? How 
is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven ?" And 
when he asserted that faith in himself was indispensable to 
everlasting life, they were offended at him; so that even they 
who had up till this time numbered themselves among his 
disciples murmured at his words. 

Thus, by the full revelation of his divine dignity and spir- 
itual mission, the Lord brought matters to a crisis ; and now, 
with that winnowing fan whereof the Baptist spake, he begins 
to separate the chaff from the wheat. He does not alter his 
teachings to suit the changing disposition of his hearers, but 
he reiterates the truth, only in a stronger form than ever, 
saying, " Doth this offend you ? What and if ye shall see the 
Son of man ascend up where he was before ? It is the Spirit 
that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing : the words that 
I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." 

This uncompromising firmness of his put an end to inde- 
cision among them, and so from that time "many of his dis- 
ciples went back, and walked no more with him." Nay, 
even in the chosen circle of his own twelve, there were some 
signs of defection. On the preceding day, as we saw in our 
last lecture, he had sent them away from the crowd, just that 
they might be removed from the influence of the seductive 
error by which the multitude was possessed; and one might 
have imagined that the experiences of the night might have 
cured them of their devotion to earthly concerns. But, no ! 
they were still in some measure under the spell by which the 
people were charmed. Therefore, turning upon them a look 
of intense affection, he said, "Will ye also go away?" 



68 Peter, the Apostle. 

It was a critical moment, like that when a general, seeing 
his troops about to break before the enemy, tries to rally 
them with the lightning of his eye and the inspiration of his 
appeal, and the effect was remarkable ; for Peter, speaking 
for them all, exclaimed, " Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou 
hast the words of eternal life : and we believe and are sure 
that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." 

It was nobly spoken, and we can forgive the son of Jonas 
for many acts of indiscretion, in consideration of the hearty 
emphasis of this well-timed utterance. When the banner is 
raised, the storm of opposition only unfolds it more fully to 
the gaze of men ; and when true decision is in the heart, a 
time of prevalent apostasy only makes it more conspicuous. 
Nor need we wonder that this noble and magnanimous re- 
sponse came from Peter. He had been prepared to give it 
by the glimpses of the deity of Jesus which he had caught 
through the miracle of the fishes and the walking on the 
sea; and, believing that his brethren were ready to indorse 
his confession, he made himself for the moment the spokes- 
man of the band. 

But he went farther than the facts, had he been fully ac- 
quainted with them, would have warranted ; for by his side 
was standing one who bitterly, though silently, dissented 
from his words. For this was the Rubicon with Judas also, 
and he refused to cross it. He was one of those who were 
looking for a mere worldly Messiah; and as he heard the 
solemn and searching words of Jesus at this time, he gave up 
all hope of remaining permanently in his service. Now, for 
the first time, the pang of disappointment pierces his soul. 
He feels that he has made a great mistake. He sees that 
he will never gain that which he fancied he would obtain 
when he joined the company of the twelve. But he will not 
leave just yet. He will remain a while, and see if he can 
make any thing out of the enterprise. He will watch his 



The First Confession. 69 

opportunity, and continue an outward adherent, that he may 
the better carry with him, when he goes, something tangible 
as his portion of the spoil. 

Thus the crisis which evoked the honest enthusiasm of 
Peter struck out of the flinty heart of Judas the spark which, 
after smoldering for months in secret dishonesty, was at 
length to burst forth into the blaze of uttermost treachery, 
in his betrayal of the Lord. All this was not hidden from 
the Master's eye. So, noting what was passing at the very 
moment in the soul of Iscariot, Jesus said to Peter, " Have 
not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil ?" Dread- 
ful words, which must have shot through the hearts of those 
who heard them as with the suddenness and the shock of 
an electric stroke, and yet, while in their definiteness they 
were full of warning to them all, in their indefiniteness they 
were full of mercy to Judas. He said "one of you ;" so that 
no one could tell which, and Judas, if he chose, might repent, 
and return, all unsuspected, to his allegiance. He said " one 
of you" so that each of the twelve might be sent in upon 
himself with the inquiry, "Is it I?" 

Now, in connection with this narrative many practical les- 
sons suggest themselves. I select only the following : 

We are reminded by this history of the fluctuating char- 
acter of human applause. The day before this defection of 
his disciples, the popularity of Jesus might be said to be at 
its height. The multitudes followed him all the way round 
by the head of the lake, and forgot their food as they listened 
to his discourses ; so that, in compassion for their hunger, 
he made for them a repast out of the loaves and fishes which 
the sachel of a lad supplied ; and then they were eager to 
proclaim him king. But he discouraged them from such a 
course, and sent them away ; and when, the next day, they 
renewed their efforts with that object in view, he not only 
would not sanction their proceeding, but gave such an ex- 



70 Peter, the Apostle. 

position of his purpose and ministry as showed them that 
he had no sympathy whatever with their aims and ambitions. 
Then they left him forthwith, and were changed from ad- 
miring followers into murmurers against him, and ultimate- 
ly into open antagonists. Behold what a revolution a single 
day may produce ! And in the light of such a history, who 
would be so foolish as to cater for popularity? 

No doubt there is a certain satisfaction in having what one 
might call the indorsement of a multitude; and while the 
attraction lasts, it furnishes a larger field of usefulness than 
could perhaps be otherwise attained. But it has a snare as 
well ; for it is apt to put the pleasing of the people upper- 
most in the aim of the teacher or the preacher, and so to 
bring him under the operation of the histrionic maxim that 
" they who live to please must please to live." Of course 
it will be said here that, in a certain sense, it is necessary 
that you should please, in order to benefit or to persuade ; 
and so much as that will be at once admitted. He who 
shocks every well-bred person with his coarseness, and vio- 
lates every canon of wisdom by his folly, does not deserve 
to succeed, and has already closed against him every avenue 
into his hearer's souls. There is a propriety to be observed 
in this as in every thing else * and they who set that at de- 
fiance are certainly not in that the followers of the Lord Je- 
sus Christ • for no teacher was ever so wise, so watchful, so 
tender, so illustrative, and so persuasive as he. If, there- 
fore, we would imitate him, we must cultivate these charac- 
teristics. That they are elements of popularity does not in 
the least matter, for they are so only in the sense of being 
the prerequisites to the gaining of the ear of the community. 

But when it comes to this, that we must either be guilty 
of treason to that which we know and believe to be the 
truth, or lose the allegiance of the crowd, then I should 
hope there are few among us who would prefer the huzza of 



The First Confession. 71 

a multitude to the approbation of conscience and of God. 
Herein lies the great difference between the true popular 
leader, whether in the pulpit or on the political platform, 
and the vulgar demagogue. The one seeks to guide the 
throng; the other is guided by it. If, under the one, some 
epidemic of misdirected enthusiasm manifests itself, as in the 
case before us, he seeks to subdue it, and will rather forfeit 
the popularity of the hour than be guilty of the permanent 
folly of giving his sanction to what he knows to be wrong. 
But if -a similar outburst of zeal without knowledge takes 
place under the other, it carries him away with it. He 
seems to be directing that which is in reality directing him. 
He mistakes the empty glory of being the figure-head of the 
ship for the substantial honor of being its captain; and 
when the whole argosy comes to grief by striking against a 
rock, it is he who is first destroyed. Thus disastrous in his 
case is the issue of that which once seemed for him so pros- 
perous. But the wiser teacher bides his time ; and, in their 
calmer moments, men will come round to him again, and 
place him on a still loftier altitude than that which formerly 
he occupied. 

It comes, then, just to this, that if one means to serve his 
generation, he must not care for applause. His heart's de- 
votion must be one and undivided to the truth, and to him 
who is the Lord of truth. Let him ever hold aloft that 
which he knows and believes to be right ; and though such 
a course may diminish the number of his followers at first ; 
though it may provoke the blind rage of his adversaries, and 
lead them to nail him to a cross ; yet, from the grave of such 
reproach he will rise at length to a throne of power on which 
no living man could ever sit, and from which the very men- 
tion of his name will move men's spirits as with some potent 
spell. The temporary withdrawal of popular favor is noth- 
ing ; but this permanent enthronement of personal influence 



72 Peter, the Apostle. 

is real greatness. Let us live, therefore, not for the applause 
of the hour — the merest clap-trap can get that — but for the 
advancement of the truth ; and, sooner or later, we shall 
share in the glory of its final triumph. 

We are shown, in this history, the tap-root from which all 
apostasy springs. It has been to me a very striking discov- 
ery, that the first indications of the estrangement of Judas 
from Jesus were connected with the discourse which caused 
the open withdrawal of so many others. This indicates that 
apostasy may exist in the heart a long while before it is 
manifested in the life. From this point on, the traitor was 
out of sympathy with Christ. Yet no one of the twelve ap- 
parently suspected him. On the very night of the last sup- 
per, just before he went out to do his villainous work, he 
had apparently the perfect confidence of his companions, 
for they supposed that he had gone out after some necessary 
business, and never dreamed of the false-heartedness of his 
after -conduct. Yet for all these months the leaven had 
been working within him ; and, apostle though he was, it ac- 
complished his perdition. 

I presume not to be able to resolve the question why, with 
his prescience of the future, Jesus selected the traitor for 
one of the twelve. I can see that a very valuable element 
was added to the evidence of his Messiahship by the fact 
that he had one among his followers who proved false, and 
who yet could lay nothing whatever to his charge, and was 
constrained by remorse, after confessing his guilt, to take 
away his life. 

But I am more concerned now to say, that at least one 
reason for this singular selection by our Lord might be to 
put every minister, office-bearer, and member of his Church 
upon his guard, by showing him that even the holding of 
the highest office in that Church will not keep a man from 
falling away. The member has dropped out of the ranks ; 



The First Confession. 73 

the Sabbath-school teacher has disappeared from the head 
of his class ; the elder, or deacon, has gone ignominiously 
back ; the minister has fallen from the pulpit ; yea, even 
the apostle from one of the very pinnacles of the Tem- 
ple. Who, then, dares to think of himself as absolutely 
secure ? Blessed Jesus ! our safety is in thee alone. " Hold 
thou up our goings in thy paths, that our footsteps may not 
slip !" 

But how shall we account for the apostasy of Judas, and 
of those who openly went back at this time? I think the 
cause of it is not far to seek. Look at the discourse which 
preceded this defection. From beginning to end, it is ad- 
dressed to those who put the things of time and sense above 
those which are. eternal and spiritual Their concern was 
for the bread that perisheth ; and they thought little of that 
which endureth unto everlasting life. They came to Christ 
for the advancement of their earthly interests; and the ven 
moment that he urges them to subordinate these to the 
things of eternity they turn against him. So with Judas. 
Men marvel at his doing such a foul deed as that which he 
perpetrated for thirty pieces of silver ; but I do not wonder 
at it at all. This world was his God. He put temporal in- 
terests uppermost ; and the man who is seeking only and 
always that which he can make for himself is fit for "trea- 
sons, stratagems, and spoils ;" for any thing, in short, which 
promises him gain. These apostates, therefore, were all 
wedded to the world. In fact, they had never let go the 
world all the while they were following Christ. They went 
after him as the ship at anchor drifts with the tide, because 
the current was flowing in his direction, and because they 
hoped to obtain some individual benefit, or some national 
deliverance, at his hands. They had never given them- 
selves to him in hearty consecration ; and as for everlasting 
life, they had not thought of that. So, when he bids them 



74 Peter, the Apostle. 

receive him by faith as the Son of God, and their Redeemer, 
they are offended at him. 

Now, is not this too often yet the source from which apos- 
tasy springs? One says, "Put me into the priest's office, 
that I may eat a piece of bread ;" and it is not wonderful, 
therefore, that, if he can get a larger piece elsewhere, he 
leaves his office, and his professed faith also, behind him, 
and goes for that. Another joins the Church in order that 
he may get into good society, or improve his business con- 
nection, or obtain some worldly advantage. Of course, if by 
leaving it he can obtain a greater temporal advantage, the 
very motive which took him into the Church at first will 
take him out of it again. For in the one case and in the 
other, the entering of the pulpit and the joining of the 
Church was only a part of the man's worship of Mammon. 
He who, in the ranks of the Church, puts any thing above 
salvation through Jesus Christ and obedience to him, is al- 
ready an apostate, and is only waiting, like Judas, for a fa- 
vorable opportunity of making thirty pieces of silver by be- 
traying the Lord. How is it with you in this regard? I 
have spoken strongly, but surely not more strongly than the 
subject warrants ; for oh ! what must have been the agony of 
the Saviour's heart, when there were crushed out of him such 
awful words as these : " Have not I chosen you twelve ? and 
one of you is a devil." 

We have here, finally, the elements of Christian steadfast- 
ness. It is pleasant to turn from the contemplation of the 
apostasy of the many, to look at the magnanimous response 
which Peter made to the Master's question, "Will ye also 
go away ?" It not only reveals to us the generous character 
of Peter's impulses — that we knew before— but it also shows 
us what are the best antidotes against falling away, when 
apostasy becomes, as it was here, epidemic. They are these 
two things : 



The First Confession. 75 

1. The setting of spiritual things above temporal. Peter 
said, " We are seeking eternal life, and there is no one who 
can give us that but thee. If we forsake thee, to whom can 
we go? The Pharisees will mock us with the husks of 
formalism, while we are wishing the kernel of truth. The 
Sadducees will chill us with the cold negation of unbelief, 
and bid us be still, for that there is no spirit and no here- 
after. Our souls protest against them both alike, and we 
must come to thee, for thou hast the words of eternal life." 
So, by keeping uppermost in his thoughts eternal life as the 
prime necessity of the human spirit, Peter was saved from 
falling away. And is it not in the same way that we are to 
keep ourselves steadfast in our allegiance to Christ to-day ? 

There may be many who would seek to persuade us that 
science and philosophy are sufficient for human guidance, 
and would estrange us from the Gospel of Christ. And if 
there were no spiritual nature within us, and no future life 
before us, we might be disposed to listen to their entreaties. 
But so long as we give the foremost place to the necessities 
of our souls, we shall be constrained to keep very close to 
Jesus, for only he can meet and satisfy these. Amidst the 
apotheosis of science by its followers, and the exaltation 
of philosophy by its votaries, we should never allow it to be 
forgotten that there are deep, solemn, all-important experi- 
ences in the human heart, which only Christ's words can 
meet. There is the sense of sin, the poison of the arrow of 
conviction, which no earthly antidote can neutralize, and 
which can be counteracted only by the blood of the Redeem- 
er's cross. There is the dark sorrow of bereavement, which 
can be removed only by the vision of the angel at the door 
of the sepulchre, and the hearing of his soothing words, 
"Why seek ye the living among the dead ? He is not here ; 
for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the 
Lord lay." There is the sense of lonesomeness stealing over 



76 Peter, the Apostle. 

the heart, even in the midst of bustle and of business, which 
can be dispelled alone by the consciousness of the Sav- 
iour's presence. There is the spirit-shudder at the thought 
of death, which only faith in Christ can change into " the 
desire to depart and to be with him." For these things 
science has no remedy, and philosophy no solace ; and so 
the thoughtful Christian can still say, amidst the conflicting 
claims of the various forms of skepticism, " To whom shall 
we go? Christ has the words of eternal life." 

2. But the second element of steadfastness suggested by 
Peter's words is the experimental knowledge of Christ's sal- 
vation. He adds, " We have believed, and know that thou 
art the Christ, the Son of God." He had before him at the 
moment the various revelations which he had received from 
Jesus of his personal glory and his saving might. So he 
knew whereof he spoke. He had seen the majesty of God- 
head streaming through the miracles of the Master, and he 
had felt in the depths of his nature the stirrings of that new 
life which Christ had awakened in him. No man could rea- 
son him out of these things. He might be affected by a sud- 
den panic, as, indeed, at a later date he was, but he could not 
be permanently persuaded to dishonor Christ. 

So it always is. The experience of the Christian is his 
strongest shield against unbelief. He knows that Jesus has 
given him peace. He has felt that Christ has quickened 
him into new and nobler life. He has received a new nat- 
ure from his Lord. He has by him been enabled to over- 
come appetite, and to put the tempter to flight. No one else 
has ever been to him what Jesus is, or done to him what Je- 
sus has done ; and you may as well attempt to persuade a 
man at noonday that the sun is not shining overhead, as seek 
to shake the Christian's confidence in his Lord. Every ar- 
gument is met by the old assertion of him who was cured of 
blindness, " One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now 



The First Confession. 77 

I see." Get this experience, and it will give you steadfast- 
ness. 

This is the impregnable inner citadel of the Christian's 
faith. This has given strength to those who have been op- 
posed by the most specious and insidious argument ; this 
nerved apostles and martyrs to go to death for Jesus' sake ; 
this has upheld confessors before kings and counsels, be- 
fore diets and tribunals of the earth ; this has enabled many 
a man amidst the vain philosophies of earth to preserve his 
faith in Jesus and his work. Get this, my friends, and you 
may stand unmoved amidst the assaults of modern unbe- 
lief, as you say to those who are its apostles, " I know Jesus 
Christ. I have experienced what he has done for me, and 
have long rejoiced in his salvation. For whom, or for what, 
am I to leave him now? Find me a better Saviour than he 
is, before I forsake him. Find me one who shall tell me 
more about sin and salvation, about heaven and hell, than 
he has told me, before I give him up. Till then, cease all 
your efforts, for I will have none but Christ." 



VI. 

THE SECOND CONFESSION. 

Matthew xvi., 13-19. 

AFTER the defection of the multitude, which furnished 
the occasion for Peter's first confession of his belief 
in the Messiahship of Jesus, our Lord went to the region of 
Tyre and Sidon,* where, in answer to her believing impor- 
tunity, he healed the daughter of the Syrophenician woman. 
Thence he returned to the shore of Gennesaret and crossed 
into the district of Decapolis,f where he healed one " who 
was deaf and had an impediment in his speech," and where 
he fed the four thousand with the seven loaves. From De- 
capolis he crossed to Magdala,$ on the western side of the 
lake, and thence§ he went northward to Bethsaida, where he 
opened the eyes of one who was blind. From Bethsaida he 
passed up, probably along the bank of the Jordan, until he 
came " into the coasts of Cesarea Philippi,"|| which were be- 
yond the boundary of Galilee. 

Thus, just at this crisis of his ministry, the Lord spent his 
time, for the most part, in districts which were outside the 
limits of the land of Israel. 

Where the evangelistic narratives are silent, it is not for 
us to assert, with any thing like certainty, that we know what 
his motive was for adopting this course. But we may con- 



* Matt, xv., 21-28. t Matt, xv., 39. 

% Ibid, xv., 29-38 ; Mark vii., 31-37. 

§ Mark viii., 22. II Matt, xvi., 13. 



The Second Confession. 79 

jecture that he was induced to take it, by one or other, or 
all, of the following considerations : he may have desired in 
this practical way to administer a reproof to the Galileans, 
by showing them and the Jews generally that their rejection 
of him would be immediately followed by the calling of the 
Gentiles ; or, perceiving the influences that were at work 
among the people, he may have determined to withdraw his 
chosen apostles, for the time, from the sphere of their oper- 
ation, and to secure leisure and opportunity for instructing 
them in the things of the kingdom ; or, as Dr. Robinson has 
suggested,* he may have chosen these localities because they 
were all beyond the limit of the jurisdiction of Herod, whose 
attention had been directed to him after the death of John 
the Baptist, and perhaps, also, because the temporary pres- 
ence of Herod in that province might, at the moment, have 
increased his personal danger. 

But, however his movements may be accounted for, he 
came at length to Cesarea Philippi. This place is to be 
carefully distinguished from the sea-port on the Mediter- 
ranean which formed the Roman capital of Palestine. That 
had been only recently built, under the auspices of Herod 
called the Great. This was one of the ancient centres of 
heathenism, and but a few miles beyond Dan, which was the 
most northern point in the land of promise. It was origi- 
nally called Paneas, probably from some connection with 
the Greek deity named Pan ;f and that his worship was at 
some time practiced in the neighborhood seems to be at- 
tested by inscriptions yet visible in the face of the rock. 

When Augustus Cesar visited Palestine in the year B.C. 
20, he gave to Herod the Great the province of Paneas, and, 
in recognition of the imperial kindness, the Jewish king built 

* " Harmony of the Gospels," English edition, p. 76, note, 
t See Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine," pp. 390, 391. 



So Peter, the Apostle. 

there, in honor of Cesar, a splendid temple of white mar- 
ble. At a later period the city formed part of the territo- 
ry of Philip, who rebuilt it, or enlarged it, and gave it the 
name of Cesarea, in honor of the Emperor Tiberius, adding 
to it Philippi, ostensibly to distinguish it from . the other 
Cesarea, but really to glorify himself. But now these names 
have both disappeared, and the ancient appellation has re- 
vived in the modern Baneas. 

The town itself was situated just at the most easterly 
source of the river Jordan, where the water flows from the 
base of a high lime-stone rock in several rivulets, which pres- 
ently unite into a considerable stream.* All travelers speak 
in terms of glowing admiration of the beauty of the place. 
Stanley affirms that " in its situation, in its exuberance of 
water, its olive groves, and its view over the distant plains," 
it is " almost a Syrian Tivoli ;" and Porter has thus graph- 
ically described it : " Baneas occupies one of the most pict- 
uresque sites in Syria. A broad terrace on the mountain- 
side looks out over the rich plain of Huleh, westward to the 
castellated heights of Hunim. Behind it rises, in bold and 
rugged peaks, the southern ridge of Hermon, wooded to the 
summit. Two sublime ravines descend from the ridge, hav- 
ing between them a conical hill, more than a thousand feet 
in height, and crowned by the ruins of the ancient castle of 
Subeibeh. On the terrace at the base of this cone lie the 
ruins of Cesarea Philippi. The terrace is covered with 
groves of evergreen, oak, and olive trees, with intervening 
glades of the richest green turf, and clumps of hawthorn and 
myrtle here and there. A cliff of ruddy limestone, nearly 
one hundred feet high, rises on the north side of the ruins. 
At its base is a cave, whose mouth is now almost choked 

* See Faii-bairn's "Imperial Dictionary," sub voce ; Stanley's " Sina: 
and Palestine," p. 389. 



The Second Confession. 8i 

up with the debris of ancient buildings and fragments of the 
overhanging cliff. From the midst of these ruins, and from 
numerous chinks in the surrounding rocks, the waters of the 
great fountain gush forth. They collect a short distance be- 
low and form a rapid torrent, which leaps in sheets of foam 
down a rocky bed, now scattering its spray over thickets of 
oleanders, and now fretting against fallen columns. "* 

Here, then, at the base of Hermon, where to-day there 
is such a startling contrast between the transitory glory of 
man's proudest works and the permanent outflowing of 
that life-giving fountain that feeds the sparkling river, Jesus 
spake those words which described the indestructible char- 
acter and enduring influence of that Church which he came 
to earth to found. 

All heathen temples will one day molder, as that of Pa- 
neas has crumbled into dust ; but even then God's people 
will sing, " There is a river, the streams whereof shall make 
glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the 
Most High. God is in the midst of her ; she shall not be 
moved. God shall help her, and that right early."f 

At this time, and in this place, the Lord, not for the pur- 
pose of eliciting information, but in order that ho might 
have an opportunity of giving emphasis to the truth about 
himself, said unto his followers, " Whom do men say that I, 
the Son of man, am ?" The question, by incorporating in it 
the title " Son of man," by which the prophet Daniel unde- 
niably designated the Messiah, contained an implied claim 
that he was the Christ, and drew different answers from dif- 
ferent individuals among them. Some had heard the opin- 
ion expressed that he was John the Baptist risen from the 
dead ; others had been told that he was Elijah ; and others 

* Alexander's " Kitto's Cyclopaedia," sub voce. 
t Psa. xlvi., 4, 5. 

4* 



82 Peter, the Apostle. 

had been informed that he was Jeremiah, or one of the 
prophets. 

It is remarkable that, in reporting what they had gathered 
of the general sentiment of the community regarding him, 
none of them should have said, "We have heard it affirmed 
that thou art the Christ." Some twelve or eighteen months 
before, while yet the testimony of John the Baptist was viv- 
idly remembered by them, there might have been found not 
a few who would have said, "Thou art the Messiah." But 
now the influence of his antagonists was in the ascendant, 
and even those who believed in the rectitude of his charac- 
ter were not prepared to go farther than to suggest that he 
was the prophet whom they expected as the forerunner of 
the Christ. The tide had begun to ebb toward the Cruci- 
fixion. There was even danger, as we saw in our last dis- 
course, that some of his chosen apostles might be carried 
away with it. So, once again, he put to them the pointed 
inquiry, "Whom say ye that I am?" to which, with his ac- 
customed promptitude, Simon Peter made reply, "Thou art 
the Christ, the Son of the living God." 

Thus again, as the spokesman of the twelve, Simon gave 
utterance, without hesitation or misgiving, to the sentiments 
of their hearts regarding Jesus, intimating that they received 
him, not simply in the sense in which the Jews of their day 
were prepared to receive the Messiah when he came, but as, 
in deed and in truth, a sharer in the deity of the Godhead. 
For the idea of the Messiah then current among even pious 
Jews, was that he was to be a divinely commissioned man, 
of exalted virtue and noble character, but still a man, who, 
like Daniel, or Ezra, or Nehemiah, or David, would be of 
signal service to their nation. But Peter shows that he had 
risen above this low and earthly conception of the great de- 
liverer, and that he, and presumably also his brethren with 
him, believed Jesus to be " the Son of the living God." 



The Second Confession. 83 

Now, as we know that on another occasion, when Jesus 
spoke of God as his Father, the Jews accused him of blas- 
phemy, on the ground that, by such a mode of expressing 
himself, he made himself equal with God,* we have no hes- 
itation in affirming that Peter here, in his own name, and in 
the. name of his fellow-apostles, expresses his conviction of 
the truth, not only of the Messiahship, but also of the Deity 
of Jesus. 

Many things had led Peter to this conclusion. He had 
been deeply impressed by some of the miracles which he 
had seen, and some of the discourses which he had heard ; 
and he could not be insensible to the matchless beauty of 
that perfect life which was daily unfolding itself, like a flow- 
er, before his eyes. But at this particular moment all these 
were brightened and vivified to him by the influence of God 
himself upon his soul, so that, carried out of himself, or at 
least lifted above himself, he spoke with a fervor and an 
earnestness which were perfectly unlike any former manifes- 
tations of his attachment to the Lord, and which therefore 
drew most naturally from his lips the warm commendation, 
" Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona ; for flesh and blood hath 
not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 
And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this 
rock I will build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of 
the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind on 
earth shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt 
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 

There have been endless discussions among controversial 
theologians over the meaning of these words ; and even to 
give a summary of the various opinions which have been 
advanced, with the arguments by which they are enforced, 

* John v., 18. 



84 Peter, the Apostle. 

would require more time than that which is allotted to a sin- 
gle discourse, and call for more patience than that which is 
commonly manifested by modern sermon -hearers. I shall 
content myself, therefore, with setting before you as clearly 
as possible the interpretation which, after much careful in- 
vestigation, I have adopted as, all things considered, the most 
natural and obvious. 

Let me say, in the outset, that it is, in my opinion, unde- 
niable that our Lord here wished to confer a special honor 
upon Peter. The other apostles, indeed, agreed with Simon 
in the matter of his confession ; but the promptitude with 
which it was made, and the earnestness which glowed through 
his manner when he made it, were all his own ; and it was 
very plainly in recognition of these that the Lord thus sin- 
gled him out for commendation and reward. The words 
" Thou art Peter," and the frequent recurrence of the sec- 
ond personal pronoun throughout the sentence, clearly indi- 
cate that the Saviour's design was to confess Peter before 
the apostles even as Peter had confessed him, according to 
that word of his own, "Whosoever confesseth me before men, 
him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven." 

This is not to be disputed ; and though the advocates of 
the Papacy have built upon it a superstructure of arrogance 
and intolerance which has outraged humanity, we shall gain 
little, and may lose much, by denying the modicum of truth 
which is in their treatment of this subject. Truth is truth, 
no matter how much men may have sought to pervert it to 
their own selfish ends ; and as it is the truth we are in search 
of here, we must come to look for it without controversial 
bias. 

Now, if it be granted, as I think it must be, that the Lord's 
design throughout was to honor Peter, it will follow that the 
rock on which he affirms that he will build his Church is 
neither the confession which Peter made, nor the Lord Jesus 



The Second Confession. 85 

himself, to whom he made it, but Peter, to whom the Master 
is at the moment speaking. " By this confession of me " — 
as if the Lord had said, "Thou art the first who, as a living 
stone, has laid himself upon me ; and so on thee, the stone 
nearest to, and resting first upon, the foundation-stone, I will 
build my Church." 

What can be simpler or more beautiful than that ? The 
words thus understood do not make Peter the foundation of 
the Church any more than the expression of Paul does, when 
he says that we " are built upon the foundation of the apos- 
tles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cor- 
ner-stone ;"* or the language of John in the Apocalypse does, 
when he declares " that the wall of the city had twelve foun- 
dations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the 
Lamb."t The whole purpose of the Lord is to confer an 
honor on Peter consequent upon, and indeed in some sort 
resulting from, the priority of this earnest confession public- 
ly made by him. The first member of the visible Church 
upon the earth, in its Christian form, was Peter. By this 
open expression of his faith, he first laid himself on Christ ; 
and so, naturally and of course, the others were built above 
him ; but all still rested on Christ. 

Now, if this interpretation be accepted, see how gradually 
the other things said by the Lord are developed out of it. 
"And the gates of hell" (i.e., of Hades, which may mean 
here the grave) " shall not prevail against it." As if he had 
said," I shall never lack in the future noble confessors, after 
thy type. One generation after another shall pass away, but 
the Church, consisting of all those who truly believe in me, 
and openly confess me before men, shall forever remain. 
Death shall not destroy it, for evermore new and enthusiast- 
ic ones will enter to take the places of those who are re- 

* Eph. ii., 20. t Rev. xxi., 14. 



86 Peter, the Apostle. 

moved from earth. Persecution shall not abolish it, for the 
blood of the martyrs will be the seed from which new con- 
fessors shall spring up ; and still, all through the ages, there 
will be those who shall avouch me to be their God, and ac- 
cept me as their Redeemer." 

"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of 
heaven." The kingdom of heaven here is not the kingdom 
of glory; and so this passage gives no countenance to the 
absurd idea that Peter is the porter who is stationed at the 
gates of the celestial city. The kingdom, as we gather from 
the many passages in which this mode of speech is employ- 
ed, is that system of things of which Christ is the head, which 
he came to earth to introduce, and which, in its issues, 
stretches into the realm of glory. It is not, perhaps, entire- 
ly synonymous with the phrases " the Gospel dispensation " 
and " the Christian Church," but these come the nearest to 
it, in our common and ordinary speech. 

Now, " the keys " of this kingdom must have something 
to do with its doors ; and the gift of them to Peter signifies 
that, as the first confessor of his Lord, he was to have the 
honor of opening the dispensation of the Gospel, or the 
Church of Christ, to men. And how remarkably was this 
prediction verified ! It was Peter who was prominent on the 
Day of Pentecost. He it was who opened the Church to 
the Jews; and as the result of his appeals and those of his 
brethren on that ever-memorable day, three thousand were 
converted to the Lord, and " added to the Church." 

That was remarkable enough, considering the backsliding 
experience out of which Peter had so lately come ; but, in a 
way that was even more striking, he opened also " the Gos- 
pel dispensation," or " the Christian Church," unto the Gen- 
tiles. Humanly speaking, he was indeed about the last man 
who might have been expected to do any thing of that kind ; 
for he was all through his life a devoted Jew, and was as pre 



The Second Confession. 87 

eminently the apostle of the circumcision as Paul was that 
of the uncircumcision. But he was prepared for the work 
by a vision from heaven ; and so, when the servants of Cor- 
nelius came to Joppa for him, he was ready to return with 
them to Cesarea, where, as he preached to a congregation of 
Gentiles, a new Pentecostal baptism came down, and he ad- 
mitted those who had received it into the ranks of the infant 
Church. Thus, with his " keys," he opened the Gospel door 
alike to Jews and Gentiles. 

But the Saviour adds, "And whatsoever thou shalt bind 
on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou 
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The key 
was sometimes of old a symbol of office and authority, and 
so, very naturally, the Lord passes into the thought which 
these last words express. " To bind " and " to loose " are 
modes of speech having reference to organization. They 
refer here to the authority which was vested in Peter, and, as 
we shall by-and-by see, in the other apostles, for the regula- 
tion of the government and affairs of the Church. He was 
to be one of the first and greatest of its office-bearers ; and, 
as such, he would have delicate and difficult work to do. 
But so long as he sought to perform that work in the spirit 
which had dictated the noble confession which he had just 
made, he might rest assured that all his deeds would be ap- 
proved and ratified on high. 

All this, but nothing more than this, seems to be implied 
in these words. And doubtless in those days of weighty re- 
sponsibility, when Peter stood before the Council, when he 
called for judgment on Ananias and Sapphira, when he re- 
buked Simon Magus, and preached to the household of Cor- 
nelius, he would be sustained by the remembrance of his 
Master's words on this never-to-be-forgotten occasion. 

Such is the interpretation of this vexed passage, which 
commends itself to me as the most simple and natural. But 



88 Peter, the Apostle. 

lest any should suppose that the Lord here gave to Peter 
any such primacy as that which is claimed for the Pope in 
his name, I would remind them of the following things : 

i. The sole thing that is specially given to Peter above 
the rest is that which is thus described, " I will give thee 
the keys of the kingdom ;" for when we turn to Matthew 
xviii., 18, we find that the power of binding and loosing is 
conferred on the other apostles as well as on him ; and 
when we read John xx., 23, we discover that a similar priv- 
ilege seems to be conferred, in its collective capacity, upon 
the Church itself. In so far as that is concerned, therefore, 
the primacy of Peter consisted in the fact that to him first, 
as a recognition of his confession, was the intimation made 
that such a power would be conferred upon him. In the 
same way we have seen that the other apostles, as well as 
he, are spoken of as foundation-stones ; but the honor of the 
keys he possessed alone ; and that, therefore, represents the 
whole difference which Christ here put between him and 
them. 

2. It is clear that the other apostles had no idea whatever 
that Christ, by these words, intended to set Peter over them 
as their visible head ; for, at a later date, Salome, instigated 
by her two sons, requested that they should obtain the fore- 
most place in his kingdom ; and even at the Last Supper 
there was an unseemly dispute among the twelve as to which 
of them should be the greatest. Now, all these requests by 
them, and discussions among them, would have been as un- 
necessary as they were unsavory, if the Lord had by this ut- 
terance already decided that Peter was to be their head. 

3. Even if the words addressed to Peter conveyed in them 
all that Roman Catholic interpreters allege, there would 
still be wanting evidence that he was ever Bishop of Rome, 
or that, even if he ever occupied that position, he could 
transmit his personal prerogative to any successor. The 



The Second Confession. 89 

questions raised by this remark are too large to be consid- 
ered here, in any thing like fullness. Let it be only ob- 
served that all the honor conferred by these words on Peter 
was given to him, not as an apostle, but as a prompt and 
enthusiastic confessor of the Lord ; and the succession to 
that honor, if there be any succession in the case, must come 
only to those who are endowed with the characteristic 
which evoked it from the Saviour at the first. 

As a matter of order, it may be true enough that a bishop 
may ordain a bishop, and a presbyter a presbyter, and the 
ordination may indicate the fact, that, by the consent of the 
Church, the individual ordained shall discharge the func- 
tions belonging to his office. 

But apostles have no successors : it was a condition of 
their office, that they should be appointed directly and im- 
mediately by the Lord.* Hence, if this honor was given to 
Peter in his apostolic capacity, he could not transmit it to 
others. But if Peter could not, as an apostle, impart this 
honor to others, neither could he as a bishop ; for though a 
bishop may ordain another bishop, yet he can not transmit 
character. Hence, even if it were true, which is far from 
being universally conceded, that Peter was Bishop of Rome, 
he could not leave his character as a legacy to those who 
should come after him in that office; and without his charac- 
ter the honor would be impossible. 

It was on Peter the confessor, and himself resting on the 
Lord Jesus, that the Church was built, and it was to Peter 
the confessor that the keys were given. Now, it is vain for 
any man, be he bishop or pontiff, to claim these honors if 
he is destitute of the character on which the honor was be- 
stowed ; while, on the other hand, the humblest believer, 
who makes a similar sincere and enthusiastic declaration 

* See Gal. i., passim. 



90 Peter, the Apostle. 

of his faith in Jesus, does in a measure enter into Peter's 
succession, and share with him his privilege and prestige. 
He who in the face of a wavering world, and when men, 
in answer to the question, " What think ye of Christ ?" are 
giving diverse replies, stands forth and says, " He is the Son 
of the living God," does thereby put himself into the chair 
of Peter, and will be privileged to open many doors into the 
Church for sinners converted through his instrumentality; 
and that is a higher honor than to be the Pope of Rome. 

These last sentences have prepared the way for the en- 
forcement of those practical lessons which are very obviously 
suggested by our interpretation of this interesting passage: 
For, in the first place, when we take confession of Christ as 
the central subject of this section of sacred history, we are 
reminded of the truth that, wherever it is genuine, it is the 
result of the operation of God upon the soul. There is, in- 
deed, the highest degree of moral evidence attesting the fact 
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. All an- 
cient prophecy converges toward him ; and, as Nicodemus 
said, " No man could do those miracles which Jesus did ex- 
cept God were with him." So, also, the matchless purity 
of his life, and the sublime originality and authority of his 
teachings, point to the same conclusion, while his resurrec- 
tion from the dead, which is the best-attested fact in human 
history, declares " with power that he is the Son of God ac- 
cording to the spirit of holiness." It is possible, therefore, 
to construct a compact, well -jointed, and irrefutable argu- 
ment in favor of the Messiahship and Deity of Jesus of 
Nazareth. 

But while all such reasonings have their value, and must 
on no account be despised — for they are the outworks of the 
citadel of the Christian faith — still, it ought to be borne in 
mind that conversion, and confession like this of Peter, are 
not the results of any logical process, but of spiritual illumi- 



The Second Confession. 91 

nation. " Flesh and blood " doth not reveal this truth to a 
man, but the Father who is in heaven. 

If any proof of this assertion be demanded, you have it 
on the very surface of the evangelical narratives ; for even 
they who ate the bread of miracle, and saw the Lord bring- 
ing the dead to life, were found among his adversaries, 
though they readily admitted the supernatural character of 
his works. It is necessary that there be not only a sufficient 
degree of evidence for the fact that Jesus Christ is the Lord 
from heaven, and the Saviour of men, but also a soul ready 
to receive that evidence. For this is a matter of morals as 
well as a question in history ; and the bias of the heart may 
neutralize the force of the appeal to the head. So, if we are 
earnestly desirous to see the conversion of our friends, and 
to have them brought to the point of making an open confes- 
sion of Christ, we must not only labor with them in the way 
of setting before them the evidence by which his claims are 
supported, but we must also fervently appeal to God in their 
behalf, that he would open their eyes to see the truth, and 
dispose their minds to accept it. 

Conversion to-day is as really the result of a divine illu- 
mination as it was when Paul was confronted with Christ on 
the way to Damascus ; and though God works by means, in 
the preaching of his Gospel, we ought always to accompany 
our use of these means with earnest supplication unto him, 
that he would bring home the truth to men's hearts in dem- 
onstration of the Spirit, and with power. It is not by syllo- 
gisms alone, or by sermons alone, that men are brought to 
acknowledge Christ, but by the revelation of God through 
them, and along with them. Is it not written, " Not by 
might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of 
hosts." As, therefore, we contemplate the careless and un- 
concerned around us, let us offer for them Elisha's prayer, 
" O Lord, open thou their eyes, that they may see." 



92 Peter, the Apostle. 

But, in the second place, this passage shows us very clear- 
ly the connection of the confession of Christ with the per- 
manence and the progress of the Church. " On this rock 
will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not pre- 
vail against it." What has preserved the Church until to- 
day ? " The faithfulness of God," you answer, " as mani- 
fested in its protection," and you are right ; but by what 
means has he specially perpetuated it ? Has it not been by 
the constant addition to it of those who, as they entered it, 
declared their faith in the Messiahship and Deity of Christ? 
It is often asked, "Why should a man join the Church ? Is it 
not possible to be a Christian without being connected with 
any visible society?" And to this we may very frankly re- 
ply, that no doubt it is possible for an individual to be a 
Christian alone. 

But, then, where would Christianity have been to-day, if 
all who have received Jesus as their Lord had acted on that 
plan ? Could there have been, in that case, any such con- 
certed efforts as those which have been put forth in the mis- 
sionary enterprise ? Or would it have been possible for 
Christianity, under such a system, to have pervaded society 
as it has done, or to have perpetuated itself at all ? You 
have but to put these questions to yourselves, to see in a 
moment what their answer must be. Even in national ef- 
forts for the overturning of some political evil, men have 
found that it is hopeless to think of succeeding unless they 
can secure the combined action of all who agree with them. 
Hence in Old England there were anti-corn -law leagues, 
and in this country there were anti-slavery societies, without 
which the evils of protection there, and slavery here, could 
never have been overthrown. 

Now, similarly, Christianity can be efficiently promoted 
only by a visible society ; and he who seeks to keep himself 
isolated is only shrinking from a duty which, if all acted as 



The Second Confession. 93 

he is doing, would be discharged by nobody. It is therefore 
essential to the permanence of Christianity on the earth, 
that men, through the Church, should make a public confes- 
sion of their faith in Christ. The guerrilla soldier is of small 
avail in a hotly raging battle. The close-compacted cohorts 
and well-drilled battalions win the day. And Christianity 
will conquer the world, not through each individual fighting 
for his own hand, but through the disciplined exertions of 
the churches of the saints. 

Mark, again, how closely connected this confession is with 
the progress of the Church. " I will give thee the keys of 
the kingdom." That was, as we have seen, a special honor 
to Peter ; but it is true yet that Christ puts a key into the 
hand of every sincere confessor of himself, wherewith he may 
open a door into the Church for some one else. Each new 
member does, by his avowal of himself on the Lord's side, 
influence some one else to take a similar stand. 

I question if there are many Sabbaths in our Church histo- 
ry more fruitful in such results than those on which, in con- 
nection with the observance of the Lord's-supper, we receive 
new members into our fellowship. Their very appearance 
in the midst of us is itself an appeal to the undecided as 
pointed and earnest as that of Elijah on Carmel, " How long 
halt ye between two opinions ?" And in conversing with 
applicants for admission to the Church, I have been sur- 
prised to find how many have traced their final decision to 
the sight of the public confession which others were making. 

So, still, the Lord gives the keys to his faithful witnesses ; 
and they who enter the Church are able to open a new door 
for others. But this result of confession must not be re- 
stricted to the moment of joining the Church. Wherever a 
man speaks out for Christ, in business or in society, the 
Lord puts into his hand a key ; and at the end, when he 
sees the issues of his conduct, he will discover that he has 



94 Peter, the Apostle. 

therewith opened up the way of some soul to the Saviour. 
Enthusiasm is infectious ; and the outburst of one may at 
length sway a multitude. Is there not here an argument 
why you who have hitherto stood timidly aloof should come 
with hearty earnestness into the ranks of the Church ? How 
know you that your zeal may not provoke many ? For if 
one Peter, through the baptism of the Holy Ghost, was in- 
strumental in the conversion of thousands in a day, what 
would be the result if each of us were to be inspired by Pe- 
ter's enthusiasm, and to copy his example ? Come, then, and 
take your stand for Christ. The question of these times, as 
of all times, is this : "Who is on the Lord's side?" And if, 
in your secret souls, you are convinced that his side is the 
right one, you are doing an injury to yourselves, to the 
Church, and to the community, by keeping your conviction 
to yourselves. "Add to your faith courage ;" and when oth- 
ers see your valor, they will be animated to follow your ex- 
ample. Hoist your flag ! and determine, by God's help, to 
keep it fluttering in the breeze till your warfare is accom- 
plished. " In the name of our God, let us set up our ban- 
ners ;" and we shall see, in their noble colors, at once the 
badge of our decision and the pledge of his protection. 



VII. 

THE REBUKE. 

Matthew xvi., 21-28. 

THE careful reader of the gospels can observe a distinct 
gradation in the course of instruction through which 
the Lord Jesus led his disciples. He taught them " as they 
were able to hear it." At first he was content to reveal 
himself to them as the Messiah promised to the fathers; 
and when they had become accustomed to think of him in 
that character, he carefully abstracted from it all those ele- 
ments of mere earthly royalty with which in their imagina- 
tions it had been associated. Then he made known to 
them his divine dignity as the incarnate Son of God, and, in 
immediate connection with this manifestation of his personal 
greatness, he foretold his sufferings, death, and resurrection. 
It is remarkable, too, that in connection with each of 
these stages in the development to his followers of our 
Lord's character and work, there was what might be called 
a crisis in his ministry. Thus, his public claim to be regard- 
ed as Messiah drew upon him the antagonism of the men 
of Nazareth, to such an extent that he left the town in which 
he had been brought up, and took up his abode at Caper- 
naum. So, again, his refusal to become a king, and act the 
part which popular opinion had allotted to the Messiah, led 
to the defection of multitudes in the synagogue of Caper- 
naum, and planted in the heart of Judas the seed of that 
dissatisfaction of which at length his treachery was the fruit. 
And when, after drawing from the twelve, through Peter, a 



96 Peter, the Apostle. 

confession of his Deity, he proceeded to speak of his death, 
the effect was so staggering that they knew not well what to 
make of his words, and Peter, presuming somewhat on his 
lately received honor, actually began to rebuke him. 

All this is valuable as an indication of the fact that the 
Lord Jesus could not have been an impostor. Had he been 
a pretender to the Messiahship, then he would have sought 
to work out the Messianic ideas that were current in his 
day. But, instead of doing that, he deliberately turned from 
all offers of earthly glory, and declared that " the Son of man 
came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give 
his life a ransom for many." In taking such a course, he 
fulfilled in the most exact manner the predictions concern- 
ing the Messiah in the Old Testament. But while that fact 
adds an element of great value to the evidence in favor of 
his claims, it suggests at the same time the question, how it 
came that the Jews could read the writings of their own 
prophets without discovering that their Messiah was to be 
divine, and yet a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 

On the one hand, it is undeniable that at the time of the 
advent almost all the people of Israel believed that their 
Messiah was to be a man, noble and great, but yet only a 
man, and that his career was to be one of uninterrupted 
glory. And, on the other, it is equally undeniable that Da- 
vid, Daniel, Isaiah, and Zechariah refer to him as stricken, 
smitten, and cut off. How, then, shall we account for the 
fact that the Jews should have made such a mistake ? 
Something may have been due to the facts that the proph- 
ecies which refer to Messiah's glory are more numerous 
than those which describe his sufferings and death, and that 
even these prophecies are couched in such terms as veil 
their spiritual significance beneath a material covering. 

But more is to be traced to the working of the familiar 
law, that the eye sees only what it brings the power of see- 



The Rebuke. 97 

ing. From the first, the Jews had been educated under a 
system of externalities. Even the sanctions of the moral 
law, as written in their books, were mainly temporal, and so 
they were apt to make more of the seen than of the spiritual, 
and to elevate the earthly above the eternal. Again, the 
wish is often " father to the thought ;" and, as in the days of 
Herod, the people were groaning under a foreign despotism, 
they came naturally to think of their Messiah as a deliverer 
from Roman oppression. The bondage of sin was forgotten 
by them in the humiliating consciousness of their subjection 
to the empire. And so we can understand how it came that 
they could not tolerate the idea of a Messiah who would not 
consent to be a king, and were positively offended at the 
thought that he should die upon a cross. It was a stum- 
bling-block unto them. 

Now, with all his excellencies, Peter was in this respect 
no wiser than his fellow-countrymen. He had, indeed, seen 
and recognized the Deity of his Master, but he was not will- 
ing that his Master, being such a one, should be put to 
death. Hence, when he heard the Lord describe how, at 
Jerusalem, he should "suffer many things of the elders and 
chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again 
the third day," he took him aside, and began to rebuke him, 
saying, " Be it far from thee, Lord : this shall not be unto 
thee." It was kindly meant. The loving apostle would 
spare his Master all trial and affliction. But he knew not 
what he said ; and he must have been startled when the re- 
buke came, "Get thee behind me, Satan : thou art an offense 
unto me : for thou savorest not the things that be of God, 
but those that be of men." These seem strong words, and, 
apparently, when we think only of the spirit in which Peter 
spoke, they are harsh words. But when we go beneath the 
surface, we get at once the key to their interpretation. For 
what was it that Peter would have placed before the Lord ? 

5 



98 Peter, the Apostle. 

It was the kingdom without the cross. He saw no necessity 
for the dying of the Lord Jesus. His suggestion was that 
he should ascend to his throne in some other way than by 
that of Calvary. To him there were hardship, disgrace, and 
agony involved in the endurance of such things as Christ 
had been describing, and he besought the Redeemer to 
choose some other means for the attainment of his end. 
Thus his words were to the Lord a repetition of the tempta- 
tion which the arch-fiend had put before him when on the 
mountain -top he showed him "all the kingdoms of the 
world and the glory of them;" and said, "All these things 
will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me ;" and, 
recognizing the source from which the suggestion came, he 
said, "What! is Satan come again with his old lure? Get 
thee hence, thou tempter ! But a little while ago I called 
thee rock, but now thou art a stone of stumbling, and a rock 
of offense unto me, and all because thou mindest not the 
things which be of God, but those that be of men." 

Then, rising from this error of Peter regarding himself, he 
proceeds to guard them against similar mistakes concerning 
themselves. "You think it unseemly that Messiah should 
die upon a cross, but what say you to this, that you, too, 
must be ready to renounce yourselves, and take up your 
cross daily, and follow me ?" The disposition which places 
safety uppermost, and makes every thing bend to that, does 
in reality only court destruction ; while he who forgets him- 
self in the service of the Lord is always sure of everlasting 
life ; and when that is in the balance, what is there that will 
outweigh it? "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man 
give in exchange for his soul ?" The full import of these 
words may not be understood by you now ; but in the day 
when the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, 
with the angels, and shall render to every man according to 



The Rebuke. 99 

his works, it shall be clearly perceived by all who stand be- 
fore the great white throne ; and of the certainty of that day 
you shall have assurance when, by his resurrection from the 
dead and ascension into glory, you see him coming in his 
kingdom. 

Such is a brief exposition of this interesting section of the 
sacred narrative. Let us see what we may deduce from it 
applicable to our present circumstances. 

I pass by all reference to the fact, suggestive though it be, 
that this mistake of Peter followed immediately upon his 
commendation by the Lord. Every height has a precipice 
on one side ; and when we receive signal honor we ought to 
be on our guard against falling into some peculiar disgrace. 

I dwell not, either, on the bearing of all this on the infalli- 
bility, which, as it is alleged, has come through Peter to the 
Pope ; for that is too patent, not to say too ludicrous, to es- 
cape the observation even of the most cursory reader. Of 
all the apostles, one would have thought that Peter was the 
very last whose history could suggest such a claim. He was 
constantly getting into trouble, and, if he received higher 
honor than ever was conferred upon his brethren, he came 
in also for more trenchant reproofs than any one of them 
ever called forth. Considering all that was to be built upon 
the eighteenth verse of this chapter by the Church of Rome, 
it is certainly not a little remarkable, that almost in the 
same paragraph Peter should be thus addressed by Christ, 
" Get thee behind me, Satan ;" and every reader of history 
knows that of this latter sort of infallibility we have had 
more than enough in the chair of Peter, and elsewhere in 
the Church. 

But I wish at this time to turn your attention more imme- 
diately to a matter of doctrinal importance. For there are 
those among us who, though like Peter, they are perfectly 
convinced of the Deity of Christ, still stumble at the idea 



ioo Peter, the Apostle. 

that his death is a true and proper sacrifice for sin ; and as, 
in our estimation, that state of mind proceeds from regard- 
ing the things that be of men more than those that be of 
God, it may be well to embrace this opportunity of meeting, 
and if possible removing, the prejudice which many thought- 
ful persons have on this subject. 

Thus they tell us that it is positively unjust to compel the 
innocent to suffer for the guilty. They put the matter fa- 
miliarly in this way : if the son of a king and the son of a 
peasant were at school together, and if the peasant-boy were 
obliged to answer for the misdeeds of the prince, every body 
would exclaim against the unrighteousness of such a pro- 
cedure. Now, we frankly admit that such a thing would be 
jnjust. But, then, we contend that the analogy is false ; and 
perhaps we may best bring out the truth if, taking the case 
which they suggest, we try to make it in some degree paral- 
lel to that of Christ and the sinner. To be so, then, it must 
be that the prince suffers for the peasant, and not the peas- 
ant for the prince. It must be, also, that the suffering of the 
prince is a purely voluntary thing, not suggested by the 
master, but accepted by him as sufficient for the ends of jus- 
tice. It must be, further, that the suffering of the prince in 
the room of the peasant is the only thing that will avail to 
soften his heart, and actually does bring him to a sense of 
duty, so that he craves forgiveness and returns to obedi- 
ence.* Now, when the case is put thus, who does not see 
that, so far from exclaiming against the vicarious suffering of 
the prince as an infliction of injustice upon him, every body 
would applaud his generosity and love for submitting to in- 
dignity for the benefit of another? Now, this last is the true 
parallel to the work of Christ. He was no mean one in his 

* See this point very strongly made by Archbishop Trench, in " Five 
Sermons before the University of Cambridge," pp. 30, 31. 



The Rebuke. ioi 

Father's house, but, indeed, the fellow of Jehovah himself. 
He was not compelled to suffer for mankind, for when he 
came into the world he said, "Lo, I come (in the volume of 
the book it is written of me), I delight to do thy will, O my 
God ;" and when again he spake of the same matter, he said, 
" I lay down my life of myself. No one taketh my life from 
me : I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take 
it again." 

Further, this sacrifice of his was the only thing that could 
meet man's case, and melt his heart. Hence, when he came 
forward to give himself for human sinners, the act was one 
lifted above all legal questionings into the region of moral 
excellence ; and it was only not righteous because it was so 
much higher than righteous as to take rank among those 
things which are good and merciful and godlike. 

Nor can we forbear from saying that they who repudiate 
the doctrine that Christ's death was a voluntary sacrifice for 
sin do thereby give to his dying the very character of injus- 
tice, which they affirm adheres to it according to the ortho- 
dox view. For if, being God, as they admit, and so possessed 
of perfect moral excellence, he died, then he suffered that 
which he had not personally deserved. Nor does it better 
the matter to say that his death was an example. For it 
must have been more than an example, otherwise its exem- 
plary force will be something more terrible than those with 
whom I am reasoning can imagine. If Christ's death were 
not a sacrifice for sin, voluntarily offered by Christ himself, 
then it was the most unjust thing in the universe, and be- 
comes, in the expressive words of Henry Rogers, " an exam- 
ple of this, that the more men obey and love God, the dark- 
er may be the divine frown and the greater the liability to 
suffer, under the incomprehensible mysteries of the divine 
administration, so that, if we were to become absolutely per- 
fect as Christ was, in that moment we might reach the cli- 



IC2 PETER, THE APOSTLE. 

max of misery.* Brethren, this witness is true. There is no 
injustice in the dying of the Lord Jesus, if we regard it as 
the giving-up by him of that which was at his own disposal, 
in order that he might save sinners. But if it be otherwise, 
then, so far from alluring us into the paths of righteousness, 
the example of Christ must ever deter us from entering upon 
them, since it declares to us that the holiest man endured 
the heaviest sufferings. 

There is no evading the force of such an argument, and 
so those who consider vicarious atonement, as Peter at this 
moment did, something derogatory to the character of God, 
retreat into this other stronghold. They say that the princi- 
ple of substitution is not admitted in human law ; and that, 
therefore, it can have no place in the divine. We accept the 
premise, but we deny the conclusion ; for how comes it that 
the principle of allowing the innocent voluntarily to suffer 
for the guilty is not permitted to be exemplified in human 
law ? We answer, for two reasons. First, because no ade- 
quate compensation can be given by that law to the substi- 
tute himself. In the matter of money, when the law can give 
to the man who pays another's debt a claim upon him or his 
property for that debt, no question is raised against substitu- 
tion. But when one dies for another, he passes by his death 
beyond the domain of human law, and it is no longer possi- 
ble for that law to give him adequate recompense. And, 
second, because by adopting the practice of substitution in 
human law, injury would be inflicted on the community, in- 
asmuch as a guilty man would be set free from all restraint, 
while yet his disposition was unchanged, and no guarantee 
could be given that he would not repeat his former crimes. 
For these reasons, it is plain that substitution never can be 
permitted in human criminal jurisprudence. But if, in any 

* The " Greyson Letters," p. 238. 



The Rebuke. 103 

way, these objections could be obviated, then I can see no 
reason, either in the law itself or in the welfare of the com- 
munity, why it might not be allowed. 

Now, in the case of the substitution of Christ for sinners, 
these objections are both removed. For, first of all, an ade- 
quate compensation is given him for his sacrifice. Death 
did not remove him from the sphere of divine law ; nay, 
rather, it only introduced him into a department where that 
law could give him higher honor than any which on earth 
he could enjoy. So there he is exalted " above principalities 
and powers and thrones and dominions, and every name that 
is named." There he " sees of the travail of his soul, and is 
satisfied." There his exaltation is as great as his humilia- 
tion here was low. Moreover, in the second place, although 
the sinner is set free, he is not discharged with a disposition 
unchanged ; for in the very moment of receiving his pardon 
his heart is renewed, so that he hates his sin, and turns from 
it to God, seeking ever after " to live soberly, righteously, and 
godly in this present world." So by the sacrificial death of 
Christ, no injury is inflicted on any ; the sufferer is compen- 
sated ; the sinner is regenerated ; the law is magnified, and 
God is glorified. 

But, beaten back from this stronghold, they who repudiate 
the doctrine that Christ's death was a vicarious sacrifice, still 
minding the things that be of men more than the things that 
be of God, say, " Is not God a father ? Why, then, should he 
not forgive his children on the simple expression of their 
penitence, and without an atonement?" To which we an- 
swer, God is a father. But he is a poor father who is not at 
the same time a governor. Every one knows how rebellious 
children become when their misdeeds are passed over on 
the mere expression of their sorrow; and if God had acted 
in this way with his human creatures, the result would have 
been the dishonor of his administration, and the triumph of 



104 Peter, the Apostle,, 

evil in the world. It must not be forgotten that God stands 
to his creatures in the twofold relation of king and father, 
and in his fatherly dealings with his children he can not di- 
vest himself of his governmental character. While as a ruler 
he has beneath his royal robes a paternal heart, it is no less 
true that as a father he has to maintain the administration 
of the king. 

Now, we know how rampant crime becomes when, through 
carelessness, or partiality, or treachery, the criminal is per- 
mitted to go unpunished ; and if God were to wipe out guilt 
on the mere expression of penitence — a thing, by-the-way, 
which no earthly judge would do— the resultant evil would 
be tremendous. Hence, we have only to admire the match- 
less wisdom of that wondrous plan whereby, at the very in- 
stant of his receiving forgiveness, the sinner, seeing the 
foundation of his pardon in the Cross, is led to hate his in- 
iquities, and in every moment of temptation beholds the face 
of Jesus between him and the enticement, and hears him 
say, " Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. Wilt 
thou crucify me afresh and put me to an open shame ?" 

Thus have I passed under review the most common ob- 
jections to the doctrine that the death of Christ was a vica- 
rious sacrifice for the sins of men, and shown you that those 
who entertain them are following mere human analogies, 
which, after all, are either false or defective, and so are 
minding, like Peter, " the things that be of men more than 
those that be of God." 

It is time now that I should turn briefly to the practi- 
cal department of the subject suggested by the instructions 
which Jesus gave on this occasion. The law of the cross is 
the law of the kingdom. True, there is not one of us who 
can endure the cross in the same precise sense as Jesus did, 
for he suffered " the just for the unjust," and by his stripes 
men are " healed." But still the disciple must be as his Lord 



The Rebuke. 105 

in so far that he has to lay his account with hardship, and 
must prepare for antagonism. It is not all plain sailing in 
the Christian life. He who would cross this ocean also 
must prepare for storms, for so the law runs : " If any man 
be willing to come after me, let him deny himself and take 
up his cross and follow me." What honesty have we here ! 
The Lord will not seek men's allegiance upon false pretenses. 
He is not like the recruiting-sergeant at the country fair, 
who tries to allure the gaping rustics to join the army by 
painting in glowing colors the romance of the soldier's life, 
and telling of this one and that one who rose from the ranks 
until he bore the star of a duke upon his breast, and carried 
the baton of a marshal in his hands ; while he carefully con- 
ceals the discomforts of the barracks, the exhaustion of the 
march, the hardships of the camp, and the dangers of the 
battle-field. On the contrary, he sets before them all that 
they shall have to encounter, saying, " In the world ye shall 
have tribulation ;" but beyond that, and as the result of that, 
he shows them the crown, promising "to him that over- 
cometh," a seat with him upon his throne. He puts the two 
together. It is not all cross and no crown ; but neither is 
it all crown and no cross. It is after the cross, the crown ; 
and the heavier the cross, the brighter the crown. 

Yet let us be on our guard here against mistaking our 
Lord's meaning, for we are not to make crosses for ourselves, 
or to cultivate self-denial merely for its own sake. A false 
reading of this verse has sent many an ardent spirit into a 
convent, and tempted many devout souls, like Pascal, to the 
practice of ascetic austerities, for no other reason than be- 
cause they were disagreeable to the flesh. But when the 
Lord said, "Let him deny himself," he did not mean that 
the disciple was to inflict upon himself flagellations with the 
scourge, or deny the body its necessary food. He meant 
something far deeper and more important than that ; namely, 



106 Peter, the Apostle. 

that he should renounce self as the ruler of his spirit, and 
that he should take Christ instead. And when he said, 
" Let him take up his cross daily," his words imply, not that 
the Christian is to make a cross for himself according to his 
own fancy, but rather that he should lift and carry that par- 
ticular cross which the Lord hath laid on him for that day, 
whether it be the ridicule of his companions, or the loss of 
his profits, or the persecution of his enemies. And while he 
is bearing that, he is to think of Jesus, and seek to follow 
him, who, " when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when 
he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him 
that judgeth righteously." 

Ah ! my brethren, we who have begun the Christian life 
already know what this means ; for though, as John Newton 
used to say, " the first stage of Christian experience is one 
of joy and peace," it is also true, as the same great and good 
man was wont to affirm, that " the second is one of conflict." 
The earnest believer very soon discovers that his life is to 
be a fight, and Christ here would prepare him beforehand. 
so that when it comes he may not be tempted to run away. 
If Jesus "pleased not himself" in order that he might save 
us, we are to give up self-pleasing and self-seeking in order 
that we may serve him. If he endured the cross, despising 
the shame, in order that he might deliver us, we are to take 
up our cross in order that we may honor him. And when 
we look upon our trials thus, they are more easily borne. 

It is told of Charles Simeon, of Cambridge, that in the 
early days of his ministry there, he was assailed with such 
ridicule and scorn by the enemies of evangelical truth, that 
he was almost tempted to give up his post, and retire to some 
spot where he could escape their attacks. But just at thai 
time, when walking in the gardens of one of the colleges, he 
came in his Greek Testament to the verse which reads thus : 
"They laid hold of one Simeon of Cyrene, and him they 



The Rebuke. 107 

compelled to bear his cross." In this Simeon he saw him- 
self, and so with joy he took the after-onsets of his adversa- 
ries, for he saw in them the cross he was carrying for Christ. 
Let us learn from his example, and take with patience, nay, 
with gladness, these hardships which come upon us for our 
allegiance to Christ. Only let us see that it is for Christ, 
and not for our own glory, or self-conceit, or evil temper, 
that we are called to suffer, and then the nails of our cross 
lose all their sharpness. 

But some one may say, " I will take care of myself. If the 
following of Christ entails all these things upon me, they may 
follow him who will; I will take another course." Yes, but 
then, what will be the issue ? The Christian's warfare comes 
first, and then he has his reward, and that is everlasting. 
Your enjoyment comes first, and then you have your punish- 
ment, and that is eternal. To seek to save yourself from 
present hardship thus, is to incur at length everlasting mis- 
ery, for he that loveth his life thus shall lose it ; and oh, 
the dreadful loss ! " For what is a man profited, if he shall 
gain the whole world and lose his own soul ?" The world 
can not satisfy our infinite spiritual longings, for " God has 
made us for himself, and our souls are restless, until they 
rest themselves in him." Nay, even if the world could con- 
tent the heart, the soul will outlast it, for the day is coming 
when the world and all that is therein shall be burned up ; 
but even then the spirit of each man shall be immortal as 
God himself. Woe's me ! at that day for him whose only 
treasure is the world. For then it will be too late to obtain 
the true riches, and the loss will be irreparable. The loss 
of the soul ! The loss of the soul ! It is not the end of be- 
ing ; it is the end of well-being, for it is the eternal sever- 
ance of the soul from God. 

Who that has read can ever forget those weird sentences 
of Richter which Carlyle has translated in one of his articles, 



108 Peter, the Apostle. 

and in which he depicts the utter misery of a soul groping 
through outer darkness in search of a rest that will not 
come, sending out its longings ceaselessly, like blazing rock- 
ets signaling distress, in the midnight of its despair, and cry- 
ing evermore, " O God ! O God ! where is thine infinite bo- 
som that I might rest myself thereon ?" And even these sen- 
tences to which I have referred, but can not quote, are but 
a feeble description of the immortal misery of a soul that is 
without God. Oh, is it for this that you are buying the 
world's happiness to-day ? I have seen many a foolish bar- 
gain made on earth, but none so infinitely foolish as this. 
To give for a few years of an enjoyment which yields no 
substantial delight all your felicity for eternity ! You are 
purchasing your earthly comfort and sinful pleasures at too 
dear a price. 

If Jesus gave his blood for your soul, why should you sell 
it for a darling sin, or put it in jeopardy to save yourself 
from a little hardship? You talk of self-denial as if it were 
a dreadful thing ; but our self-denial is nothing to yours. 
You deny yourselves the pleasures of holiness, which are 
enduring ; we deny ourselves the pleasures of sin, which 
are evanescent. You deny yourselves the approval of con- 
science and the assurance of God's favor ; we deny ourselves 
remorse with its gnawing anguish, and fear with its horrible 
forecastings. You deny yourselves that peace at death which 
springs from the persuasion that to depart is to be with 
Christ, which is far better ; we deny ourselves a thorn-filled 
pillow on our death-beds. You deny yourselves the glad 
invitation, " Come, ye blessed ; inherit the kingdom prepared 
for you from the foundation of the world ;" we deny ourselves 
the withering malediction, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlast- 
ing fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." The path 
of Christ for me ! Even if it lead through Calvary, it ends 
in a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 



VIII. 

ON THE HOLY MOUNT. 

Matthew xvii., 1-9 ; Mark ix., 2-10 ; Luke ix., 28-36. 

ABOUT eight* days after the conversation between 
Christ and his apostles which formed the subject of 
our last discourse, and while yet their minds were earnestly 
engaged with the startling information which he had given 
them concerning his sufferings and death, the Lord took Pe- 
ter and James and John apart with himself, and led them up 
"into a high mountain." To these three of his disciples the 
Saviour was drawn by a peculiar attraction ; so that when 
he had any special privilege to bestow, he generally chose 
to confer it upon them. Thus they were selected to be the 
witnesses of the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus;t and 
they were honored to go farthest with him into Gethsemane.$ 
It is as vain to ask for the reason of this preference as it 
is to inquire why, out of these three, one was known as " the 
disciple whom Jesus loved," and was permitted to lean upon 
his bosom. There were doubtless good grounds for the se- 
lection in both cases ; but whether it is to be accounted for 
by the supposition that these chosen ones had more in them 
in common with the Master than the other nine, or to be re- 
ferred to the absolute sovereignty of the Lord Jesus, it is not 
for us to say. 

* Matthew says six days ; but the reason of the difference between 
him and Luke is plain. He reckons both the day from, and the day to, 
which he is calculating. Luke gives the number of the intervening days. 

t Mark v., 37. % Matt, xxvi., 37. 



no Peter, the Apostle. 

The place to which he led them has usually been identi- 
fied with Mount Tabor ; but there seem to be insuperable 
objections to such an opinion. Our Lord was at the time 
of Peter's confession, and the conversation already alluded 
to, in the region of Cesarea Philippi ; but Tabor is in the 
south-east of Galilee, and there is no record of any journey 
intervening between the incidents referred to and the Trans- 
figuration ; while the narrative of Mark* makes distinct men- 
tion of a departure thence, and a journey through Galilee im- 
mediately subsequent to the descent from the mount. Be- 
sides, as Ritter has said,f " The historical data which we pos- 
sess show that the summit of Tabor was employed without 
any intermission between the times of Antiochus the Great, 
B.C. 218, and the destruction of Jerusalem under Vespasian, 
as a stronghold, and was by no means the scene of peace 
and solitude whither one would flee anxious to escape the 
turmoil of the world." 

We are, therefore, constrained to lay aside the tradition 
which, taking the word " apart " in the narrative as qualify- 
ing the mountain, rather than the persons who went up to it, 
has designated Tabor as the scene of this wonderful mani- 
festation of celestial glory ; and we would connect it with 
some one of the many peaks of Hermon in the neighbor- 
hood of Cesarea Philippi. Hanna has given us the follow- 
ing account of a personal inspection of the locality : " Stand- 
ing upon the height which overlooks Cesarea Philippi, I 
looked around upon the towering ridges which Great Her- 
mon, the Sheikh of the Mountains, as the Arabs call it, pro- 
jects into the plain. Full of the thought that one of these 
summits on which I gazed had in all probability witnessed 



* Mark ix.,30. 

t "Comparative Geography of Palestine," vol. ii., p. 313. I am in- 
debted for the quotation to Trench's "Studies on the Gospels," p. 192. 



On the Holy Mount. hi 

the Transfiguration, I had fixed upon one of them, which, 
from its peculiar position, form, and elevation might aptly 
be spoken of as a 'high mountain apart,' when, casting my 
eye casually down along its sides as they sloped into the 
valley, the remains of three ancient villages appeared dot- 
ting the base. I remembered how instantly, on the descent 
from the mountain Jesus had found himself in the midst of 
his disciples and of the multitude, and was pleased at ob- 
serving that the mountain-top I had fixed upon met all the 
requirements of the Gospel narrative."* The comparison 
of the whiteness of the Saviour's raiment to snow gives ac- 
cidental corroboration to the view that the scene occurred 
at Hermon, where alone in Palestine the snow could be seen. 
Up the sides of such a mountain Jesus led his three apos- 
tles as the day was declining, that the night might be spent 
by him in communion with his Father. He gave himself 
unto prayer, and they, heavy with slumber, had a hard bat- 
tle to keep themselves awake ;f but, having overcome their 
drowsiness, they were rewarded by such a vision as mortal 
eyes never before or since beheld. For the fashion of the 
Lord's countenance was altered, his raiment became white, 
flashing out like lightning, dazzling as the snow beneath the 
sunlight. We are reminded, as we read, of the case of Mo- 
ses as he came down from the mountain, and of that of Ste- 
phen as he stood pleading his cause before the council ; but 
both of these shone with a reflected lustre, giving back that 
which they had first received, whereas here the Saviour's ra- 
diance came from within. For the moment the glory of his 
Godhead broke through the veil of that humanity by which 
on earth it was so largely concealed ; and he appeared " cov- 

* Hanna's " Life of Christ "—The Ministry in Galilee, p. 336. 

t Alford translates SiayprjyoprjadVTeg (in Luke ix., 32) rightly by the 
words k ' having kept awake," and so vindicates the apostles from the ac- 
cusation of indifference. 



ii2 Peter, the Apostle. 

ering himself with light as with a garment." He was to 
meet a deputation from the realms of glory, and it became 
him to array himself in his celestial state. The night was 
filled with the splendor ; the very darkness was light about 
them ; and not all at once could the privileged spectators 
accommodate their vision to the brightness. But when they 
could see into the glory, they beheld with their Master two 
shining ones, whom they knew to be Moses and Elijah, and 
whom they heard conversing with him on that very death 
which had been so distasteful to them, and for deprecating 
which Peter had drawn upon himself such a startling re- 
proof. It was such a spectacle that they were lifted up out 
of themselves ; and Peter, in the ecstasy of the moment, 
and in his own hasty manner, from the best of motives, but 
without any consideration of what was involved in his re- 
quest, exclaimed, " It is good for us to be here ; if thou wilt, 
let us make here three tabernacles ; one for thee, and one 
for Moses, and one for Elias." 

He felt that this was a better atmosphere to breathe 
than that in which for the past days he had been moving. 
The visible glory made him forget for the time the cross 
through which alone it could be made permanent, and he 
said, "Let us stay here. Why should we descend again to 
conflict and humiliation ?" But even as he spake, a bright 
cloud, the emblem of the presence of Jehovah, overshadowed 
them all ; and as, recognizing the nearness of the great I 
Am, they bent in lowly reverence, they heard the words from 
the excellent glory, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
well pleased ;• hear ye him." So deeply moved were they 
by this divine testimony and admonition, that they did not 
venture to lift themselves from the earth until Jesus came 
and touched them, and then, when they raised their eyes, 
the night had come again, and they saw "no man, save Je- 
sus only." 



On the Holy Mount. 113 

As the morning broke they took their way down the 
mountain -side, and, because of their own imperfect appre- 
hension of the meaning of what they had seen, no less than 
because of the unprepared condition of men's minds to re- 
ceive their report, they were commanded to "tell the vision 
to no man until the Son of man be risen again from the 
dead." 

The purposes which this remarkable occurrence was de- 
signed to serve will appear only when we take into consid- 
eration the different individuals of whom the group on the 
mountain-top was composed. So far as Jesus himself was 
concerned, there can be little doubt that it was meant to 
sustain him through the dreadful ordeal of Gethsemane and 
Calvary. In the near future of his ministry, there lay before 
him those sufferings and that death of which he had so re- 
cently spoken to his followers ; and in the hour of that aw- 
ful agony when his sweat was as great drops of blood falling 
heavily upon the earth, as well as in the moment of that 
dreadful loneliness when he cried, " My God, my God, why 
hast thou forsaken me?" the memory of this voice upon the 
mount, and that other by the banks of the Jordan, must have 
come back upon his spirit with re-assurance and consolation. 

Before the conflict with the prince of darkness in the wil- 
derness, the vision at the Baptism was given to inspirit him 
for the fight ; and now again, just before he set out on his 
last journey to Jerusalem, and when he had the near pros- 
pect of meeting the combined assaults of earth and hell, he 
is comforted and cheered by the words of Moses and Elijah, 
and by the voice from the eternal Father. If there be a 
cross before us, God will grant us also a transfiguration, that 
we may not flinch in the time of trial. He "sendeth none 
a warfare on his own charges," and the glory of Hermon 
lightens the darkness of Gethsemane. 

The presence of Moses and Elijah was designed to show 



ii4 Peter, the Apostle. 

that the old dispensation was but a preparation for the new. 
Moses represented the law, as did also Elijah, for, strictly 
speaking, the Tishbite was rather a reformer of the old than 
a prophet of the new. These two, therefore, were the men 
who might naturally have been supposed to be most zealous 
for the system which was inaugurated on Sinai; but even 
they are here to receive honor from Christ, and yield up the 
palm to Christ. Observe, their appearance did not precede 
the transfiguration of the Lord. The change on Christ came 
first, then his glory gave brightness and distinctness to them ; 
and after they had been thus illuminated, they retired and 
left him alone, the master of the new dispensation. Thus, as 
I attempted to show in my discourse on this subject as con- 
nected with Elijah,* the special significance of the presence 
of these ancient worthies testifies to these three things, name- 
ly, that the glory of Christ is intimately connected with the 
decease which he accomplished at Jerusalem ; that Christ, 
so glorified, gives new radiance to that old history and law 
of which Moses and Elijah were the noblest representatives ; 
and that the ancient law, so glorified by Christ, is seen to 
have served its purpose, so that it ceases to be binding on 
men's consciences, while the new system of which Jesus is 
the head is inaugurated by the voice from the throne, of 
which this is the significance : " Moses and Elijah were my 
servants, and you did right to hear them ; but now I bring to 
you my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him." 
Thus viewed, the purport of the Transfiguration is paral- 
lel to the argument of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and espe- 
cially to that of its first two chapters, wherein the superiority 
of Jesus as the Son is made a reason why we should give 
the more earnest heed to the things which he has spoken, 
" lest at any time we should let them slip." 



See " Elijah the Prophet," pp. 195-209. 



On the Holy Mount. 115 

One object secured by the presence of Peter, James, and 
John was that there were eye-witnesses of the Redeemer's 
majesty on this occasion, when for a brief season he resumed 
his regal state. But while that was a matter of undoubted 
importance, the effect produced on these three disciples 
themselves must not be overlooked ; and to obtain a correct 
idea of that, we must take into account the conversations in 
immediate connection with which the Transfiguration occur- 
red. The Lord had asked them first, " Whom do men say 
that I the Son of man am?" and they had replied, "Some 
say that thou art John the Baptist ; some, Elias ; and oth- 
ers, Jeremias, or one of the prophets ;" and now, Moses and 
Elijah themselves appear doing homage to Jesus, and setting 
that matter completely at rest. 

He had asked again, " But whom say ye that I am ?" 
whereupon Peter, speaking for the band, had said, " Thou 
art the Christ, the Son of the living God ;" and, lo ! as they 
gazed on his robe of light, they had ocular demonstration 
of the truth to which Peter confessed, while the voice out of 
the cloud left no room for any lingering doubt as the great 
God himself proclaimed, "This is my beloved Son." 

Once more : he had now, for the first time, spoken plainly 
to them of his sufferings and death ; and they were offended 
thereby ; so that Peter, in their name, had protested against 
his enduring any such indignities at the hands of men ; and 
all had marveled at the force of the reproof which he had 
thereby drawn upon his head. But, behold ! when Moses 
and Elijah come from heaven to hold fellowship with Christ, 
it is of this very death they speak. They say nothing of the 
glory of his miracles ; they utter no word about any earthly 
monarchy, such as that which his followers supposed he was 
about to found ; they have no conference concerning the 
conquest of Israel's Roman oppressors ; they speak only of 
"the decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem." 



u6 Peter, the Apostle. 

In their estimation, that was the central point in his career ; 
the most glorious and the most god-like thing he was to do 
was to give his life a ransom for many, for thereby he was 
to accomplish an Exodus* more far-reaching in its results, 
and more illustrious in its renown, than that with which the 
name of Moses is imperishably associated. 

The effect of all this upon the listening apostles must 
have been great. They would learn at once that in the dy- 
ing of their Lord there was to be nothing really disgraceful 
to him, however much indignity men might endeavor to con- 
nect with it ; and though, for the time, they might not be 
able to comprehend how the death of the Lord could be a 
theme of such interest to celestial beings, and could be so 
Intimately associated with their Master's honor, yet, in later 
days, after the Holy Ghost had been conferred upon them, 
they would, through their remembrance of this wonderful 
conversation, be enabled to understand more thoroughly the 
mystery as well as the majesty of the cross. 

It is worthy of remark that these privileges came to the 
three apostles in the wake of the confession which Peter 
made in their name and his own. The whole evidence that 
exists for the claims of Christ upon us as our Redeemer and 
Lord is not to be expected to be known and appreciated by 
us before we confess him. If we see enough to convince us 
that he is the Son of God, then let us take means to publish 
that conviction, and when we have done that, he will take 
us to some mountain-top of experience, where he will unveil 
his glory to us, and give us an unwavering assurance regard- 
ing him that will resist the insinuations of the skeptic and 
the assaults of the gainsayer. 

Men wait for this before they make their confession, even 
though in their inmost hearts they feel that Christ has an 

* The original word in Luke is tt\v tZodov, the Exodus. 



On the Holy Mount. 117 

indubitable claim upon them. But that is a mistake. Let 
them confess him jirst, and then there will come to them the 
Mount of Transfiguration, with its light in the midst of dark- 
ness, to confirm them in so much of their confession as was 
true, and to correct that which in it was false. " If any man 
be willing to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine 
whether it be of God." Act up to the light which you at 
present enjoy, and as you do that, new light will come to 
you. The way to the top of the transfiguration mountain is 
through the confession of the Lord. Ah ! if I could only 
persuade you of that, how many among you who are already 
"disciples, but secretly," would come forth and avow your- 
selves on the Lord's side ! But I do not wish you to take it 
on my word. Ask any one of those who out of sincere af- 
fection to him, and humble confidence in him, have confessed 
Christ, if it be not even as I have said, and they will corrob- 
orate my assertion. The day of confession ushers in a new 
era in religious experience, and from that hour the disciple 
rises to a higher life in Christ. Try it, you who in your 
hearts are already yielding yourselves up to him, and after 
you have done it, and not long after it either, he will take 
you with him unto a high mountain apart, and give you a 
vision of his transfigured glory. 

But it is time that I should glance a little at some of the 
more general lessons which we may learn from this striking 
scene. 

And, in the first place, we are reminded by it that seclu- 
sion is needed for the highest sort of devotion. Luke tells 
us that the transfiguration of the Lord took place as he was 
praying, and so we are warranted in concluding that Jesus 
and his three disciples withdrew to the mountain-top for spe- 
cial communion with God. Nor was this a solitary instance 
of the kind ; for the student of the Gospel narratives is struck 
by the frequency with which they record the facts that the 



1 1 8 Peter, the Apostle. 

Saviour went up into a mountain to pray, and that he spent 
whole nights in supplication. Now, if he who had no sins 
to confess and no forgiveness to ask, still felt it needful after 
his toilsome days with the multitude to refresh his soul by 
fellowship with Jehovah, how much more earnest ought we 
to be in securing seasons for devotional retirement ! The 
very activity of the times in which our lot is cast ought to 
impel us to use means for keeping the closet undisturbed \ 
yet it is to be feared that by many of us the privilege of 
private prayer is undervalued, and the blessing of communion 
with God in secret is unenjoyed. 

We are living in a period of reaction in this matter. In 
former times, our fathers, Peter-like, sought to erect booths 
upon the mountain-top, and were inclined to dwell there for- 
ever, forgetting the duty which they owed to their fellow-men 
in the streets and lanes of their own cities, and in the far 
lands of heathenism. Hence, as we read their treatises and 
biographies we find many things concerning devotion, and 
comparatively few concerning work. They were great in 
meditation, but they did little for the elevation of the peo- 
ple around them. Now, however, a wonderful activity has 
sprung up among Christians. They are far enough yet, in- 
deed, from what they ought to be in that respect ; but still 
they are greatly in advance of some former generations ; and 
in their consecration to these works of faith and labors of 
love they are apt to ignore the closet altogether. 

It is told of Clarkson that when, on a Sabbath-day, Wil- 
berforce called upon him and found him busily engaged in 
some work connected with the anti-slavery enterprise, the 
senator said to him — " Clarkson, do you ever think upon 
your own soul ?" and the reply was, " Wilberforce, I can 
think of nothing about myself so long as this terrible evil is 
in existence." Now, there was a certain nobleness in Clark- 
son's words ; yet, even while we concede that, we must affirm 



On the Holy Mount. 119 

that he was wrong, for the more we are called to do for God 
in the service of our generation, the more earnestly ought 
we to seek stated seasons of communion with him, for 
thereby only can we keep ourselves in the proper working 
spirit. 

It was after the Saviour had been busiest with the people 
that we find him withdrawing from them for fellowship with 
his Father, and the more we have to do for the Lord, the 
oftener should we seek to be alone with him. I know that 
we may have genuine fellowship with him in our work, and 
that we may pray to him anywhere, in the brief, ejacu- 
latory manner in which Nehemiah called upon him, even 
while the king's cup was in his hand. I gladly admit the 
truth of all that is advanced in that direction ; but still that 
sort of fellowship must not be made a substitute for the 
other, else it also will soon drop altogether out of our lives. 
The fountain-head of devotion is in the closet. If we keep 
that full, it will irrigate the entire life, and at every favoring 
opportunity its waters of refreshment will bubble up to glad- 
den us ; but if we let that run dry, the whole experience of 
the soul will speedily become withered and barren. 

Matthew Henry was right when he said that apostasy from 
God generally begins at the door of the closet; and in these 
clays of holy convocations, when every day in the week, and 
many times in a day, we are asked to take part in some pub- 
lic gathering for the promotion of revival or the advancement 
of the Redeemer's kingdom, we need to be warned against 
the danger of putting such engagements in the place of the 
mountain-top. Nothing will make up to thee, my brother, 
for the neglect of that ; therefore, let nothing become to thee 
a substitute for it. He who is stimulated to pray long in 
public, but has no relish for private devotion, never prays to 
God at all, but is angling in his supplications for the ap- 
plause of his human hearers. So I make the closet, rather 



120 Peter, the Apostle. 

than the prayer-meeting, the test of individual piety, and that 
alone is a profitable prayer-meeting which gives to every one 
attending it a new relish for secret prayer. 

In the second place, we are reminded here that a devo- 
tional spirit sees new glory in Christ and in his Word. When 
Peter and his brethren retired apart with Christ, he was 
transfigured before them, and Moses and Elijah shared his 
brightness. Now, when we give ourselves to the devotional 
study of the Scriptures, new radiance breaks forth from its 
pages for us. I think one reason why we do not relish 
the closet as we ought is that we make it a place for mere 
asking, rather than for the study of Christ and his salvation 
as they are revealed in this book. It is worthy of remark 
that, in the Hebrew language, the word which signifies "to 
pray" means also "to meditate," proving that meditation 
ought to blossom up into prayer, and that prayer ought to 
have its root in meditation. Yet how little we give ourselves 
to meditation ! We can talk with a friend at any time ; we 
are always ready to take up an interesting book ; we do not 
object, either, to give loose rein to our imaginations in day- 
dreaming : but meditation — the holding of our minds to a 
certain subject until we have discovered the principles which 
underlie it, and have traced its applications in different direc- 
tions — that is not so much to our taste. But that ought to be 
the principal exercise of the closet, and in the prosecution 
of that every Biblical student will tell you that he has often 
seen Christ transfigured, and that frequently Moses and the 
prophets have stood out before him, arrayed in a glory given 
to them by the Messiah. Brethren, there are few joys greater 
than that which is awakened in us by the discovery of some 
new beauty in Christ, through the study of his Word, and if 
you will only give yourselves to that work in your closet- 
hours, you will be rewarded with a happiness akin to that 
of Peter on the mount, when, in listening to the conversa- 



On the Holy Mount. 121 

tion of the glorified triumvirate on the death of Christ, he 
said, " Master, it is good for us to be here." 

In the third place, we are reminded that devotion is not 
the whole of life. Peter wanted to remain on that summit 
altogether. But he knew not what he said. There was a 
world to be redeemed, and how could that be accomplished 
if Jesus were held back there from the cross ? There was, 
even at that very moment, a poor demoniac in the valley, 
waiting their descent, in order that he might be cured. No ! 
it could not be. Before Peter himself were the Pentecost, 
the prison, and the cross, for he was to be one of God's 
chosen vessels for the carrying of the Gospel to mankind. 
The present hour was a time of refreshment preparatory to 
a life of labor, and he must leave the scene of privilege for 
the field of toil. So it is still. Prayer is of highest value, 
and the ordinances of the Church can hardly be overesti- 
mated ; but we can not be always enjoying. No doubt there 
are some among us who may have sung at a communion 
season or elsewhere these lines — 

" My willing soul would stay 
In such a frame as this, 
And sit and sing itself away 
Into the realms of bliss." 

Now that is all very fine ; but it is just as nonsensical as 
was Peter's proposal here to erect booths upon the mountain- 
top. The devotional is meant to be the handmaid of the 
practical. Prayer is not a mere sentimental thing. Where- 
ever it is so, it is not true prayer. But, wherever it is genu- 
ine, it is the inspiration to work ; and we who have been 
filled with ecstasy by the vision of the Christ ought to go 
clown again among our fellows, and seek to lift them up with 
us to our former elevation. Thus the active and the con- 
templative balance each other in the Christian life. The 
former gives new zest to the closet, and the latter gives new 

6 



122 Peter, the Apostle. 

vigor to the conduct ; so that he is the noblest man in whom 
they are both equally developed. 

Finally, we are reminded here that devotion furnishes 
support for the performance of the duties and the endur- 
ance of the trials of life. As I have already said, the Re- 
deemer himself, even in the garden and on the cross, was 
upheld by the remembrance of this voice from the midst of 
the cloud ; and we know that Peter long after, when con- 
templating his decease, looked back upon this whole scene 
as one of the strongest verifications of the Gospel saying, 
"We have not followed cunningly devised fables, but were 
eye-witnesses of his majesty, when there came to him such 
a voice from the excellent glory, this is my beloved son in 
whom I am well pleased ; and this voice which came from 
heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount." 
Thus, through all his later experiences, the memory of Her- 
mon's glory stayed up the heart of the apostle and sustained 
his faith. So it has been often with humbler disciples : their 
discoveries of Christ in their devotional study of his Word 
have sustained them under afflictions, and strengthened them 
in moments of temptation. " I could not have got through," 
said one to me, during the money panic two years ago, " if it 
had not been for prayer." My hearer, do you know any thing 
of such an experience as that ? Is it possible that you are 
one of those who ridicule prayer, despise the Gospel, and dis- 
honor Jesus ? Well, you have had some trials, for unbelief 
gives you no exemption from them ; you have been in deep 
distress without Christ; you have just come, it may be, out 
of some dreadful agony, in which you could not recall one 
single promise of his grace, and dared not lay hold upon his 
hand ? How was it with you then ? Would you like to go 
through a similar ordeal again ? Ah ! you shudder at the 
very thought ; you can not contemplate such a thing with- 
out terror. Oh, what a privilege all the while you have been 



On the Holy Mount. 123 

denying yourself in putting Jesus from you ! Give him your 
hand, give him your heart to-night ; and as the weeks re- 
volve he will show you more and more of his grace, and take 
you too up with him to some Hermon-top of glory, the mem- 
ory of which will be to you an anchor through life, and the 
influence of which will bear you up in death. 



IX. 

THE WASHING OF THE FEET. 

John xiii., 1-17. 

PASSING over the finding by Peter in a fish's mouth of 
a piece of money, with which, by the command of the 
Lord, he paid the Temple tribute,* and merely alluding to 
the question f which he put to Jesus as to the frequency 
with which he should forgive an offending brother, we come 
now to the first of that series of interesting incidents which 
culminated in his denial of the Lord. From Gaulonitis the 
Saviour had gone to Galilee, and from Galilee he had set his 
face steadfastly to go up to Jerusalem, knowing full well the 
things that should befall him there. At first, as he entered 
the city in a certain kind of state, he had been received with 
popular enthusiasm ; but under the influence of their selfish 
rulers the people had suddenly cooled in their attachment 
to him, and the week whose first day saw his triumphal 
entry, witnessed on its sixth day his crucifixion on Calvary. 
It was now the afternoon of the Thursday, and the Master 
and his disciples were reclining at table, in the upper room 
which Peter and John had prepared for their celebration of 
the paschal supper. It is true, indeed, that the Evangelist 
John, to whom we are indebted for the narrative which is 
now before us, gives no account of the institution of the 
Lord's supper, but there is abundant evidence that the pass- 
over here spoken of was that at the close of which he in- 

* Matt, xvii., 24-27. t Matt, xviii., 21. 



The Washing of the Feet. 125 

stituted the memorial ordinance which is still so dear to all 
his followers. 

But while all are agreed on that, there has been much 
learned discussion over the question whether the feast here 
observed by Jesus was the regular Passover, or whether he 
anticipated that by a day, so that his own crucifixion was 
simultaneous with the time of the offering of the typical lamb. 
And some have attempted to prove that the statements of 
the fourth Evangelist on this point are irreconcilably opposed 
to those of the other three. Thus, in the opening verse of 
this chapter, John speaks as if the feast of the Passover were 
still to come; and in a later passage (xviii., 28) he alleges 
that the Jews would not go " into the judgment-hall lest they 
should be defiled, but that they might eat the passover." 
Now Matthew (xxvi., 17) says that directions were given for 
preparing to eat the passover " on the first day of the feast 
of unleavened bread;" and Mark (xiv., 12) and Luke (xxii., 
7) refer to " the first day of unleavened bread," when " the 
passover must be killed." 

We have adopted the view of those who believe that Christ 
did eat the passover on its own proper and appointed day 
with his followers, and we find the principle of harmony be- 
tween the sacred writers in the fact that by the term " pass- 
over" the first three Evangelists commonly mean the actual 
eating of the paschal lamb, while John uses it in a broader 
sense, to signify the festivities of the entire week of unleaven- 
ed bread. It is proper to say, however, that this opinion is 
very far from being unanimously accepted, and when such 
authorities as Alford, Pressense, and Farrar are on the other 
side, it would be presumption in me to dogmatize ; but twenty 
years ago I had the privilege of reading an elaborate article* 
on this question by the late Dr. Robinson, of this city, and I 

* In the " Bibliotheca Sacra "for August, 1845. 



126 Peter, the Apostle. 

have found his argument so convincing that nothing that I 
have read since then has disturbed the conclusion to which 
he conducted me. 

While they were at table the Lord rose, and laid aside his 
upper garment; then, girding himself with a towel, and tak- 
ing water in a basin, he proceeded to wash the feet of his 
followers. That was a work usually done by servants or 
slaves; yet, as not shoes but sandals were commonly worn 
in Palestine, and as the streets and highways were hot and 
dusty, the washing of the feet was a great comfort, we might 
even say a great luxury, to the traveler; so that, when he en- 
tered the house of his friend, the earliest courtesy extended 
to him was that of giving him water for his feet* 

To a Western reader it seems strange that Christ should 
have attempted to do this for his disciples while they were 
at table. But the customs of the Jews at that date were 
quite different from those which now prevail among us. 
The guests at a feast were arranged along three sides of a 
parallelogram, and they reclined on couches. Leaning on 
the left side, each one had his right hand free to help him- 
self to the food prepared, and as their heads were toward the 
table their feet stretched out behind Hence, one could go 
round behind them, and have free access to their feet with- 
out in any way disturbing their repast. It was in this man- 
ner that the woman stood at Christ's feet, behind him, when 
he was in the house of Simon the Pharisee,! and began to 
wash them with her tears, even while the entertainment was 
going on. So, in the present instance, while the apostles 
kept their places, the Lord went round outside and washed 
their feet. They were amazed at his procedure. They knew 
not what to make of it. But, as usual, it was Peter that broke 
the silence with which they were all stricken; for when the 

*" Luke vii., 44. t Luke vii., 38. 



The Washing of the Feet. 127 

Master came to him, the impulsive and generous apostle 
could not think of allowing the Son of God to do for him the 
office of a slave, and said, " Lord, dost thou wash my feet ?" 
To this the Saviour responded, "What I do thou knowest 
not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." As if he had said, 
" Submit to it now, and in a very short time you will see the 
significance of my act." Still the erratic disciple would not 
consent. He replied, with even more emphasis than before, 
"Thou shalt never wash my feet." But the Master would 
not argue with him. He simply said, " If I wash thee not, 
thou hast no part with me." And when it was put thus to 
him, there was no longer any hesitation — nay, in the exuber- 
ance of his desire to manifest his determination to have 
part with Christ, he answered, " If it is urged by thee on that 
ground, I am ready for any thing. Wash not my feet only, 
but also my hands and my head." But that, again, was too 
much. True obedience is the doing of the very thing com- 
manded — neither more nor less; and in this overplus of zeal 
there was as much to blame as there had been in his refusal 
to be washed at all. So the Lord checked that also with the 
words, " He that is washed needeth not save to wash his 
feet, but is clean every whit; and ye are clean," but, with a 
suggestive arrow aimed at the conscience of Judas, he adds, 
"not all." 

No one can read this narrative without observing the dis- 
tinct and consistent individuality which is given to Peter by 
all the sacred writers. By whomsoever of them he is de- 
scribed, whether by Matthew or Luke, by Mark or Paul, or 
by his beloved friend and coadjutor, John, you have the same 
characteristics delineated. He is always a man of impulse ; 
and when he sees he has made a mistake, he is so eager to 
rectify it that he runs right into the opposite extreme. He 
is as explosive as nitroglycerine, and while occasionally the 
force of the blast clears away some rock of offense, just as 



128 Peter, the Apostle. 

frequently it imperils the safety of those by whom he is sur- 
rounded. He is constantly uttering right things, but he very 
often utters them at the wrong time; so that the criticism 
once made on an eccentric Scottish minister might have 
been pronounced on him : " He is instant in season, and out 
of season, but especially out of season." Yet, withal, he was 
so affectionate and so honest, that one is almost ready to 
forgive his mistakes for the sake of the magnanimity with 
which he committed them, and the motive by which he was 
actuated. Here, for example, we can see that his blunder 
sprung out of the very reverence in which he held his Lord. 
In his wonted impetuosity, he did not stay to remember that 
obedience is better than sacrifice, and that the truest respect 
we can pay to the Lord Jesus is to have implicit confidence 
in him, and to give unquestioning allegiance to him. Still, 
in his own blind, blunt way he was trying to show his love to 
Christ, and to reveal the exalted conception which he had of 
his greatness. Hence, whenever he was told that washing 
was essential to having part in Christ, he yielded in a mo- 
ment; nay, he would be all washed, and so he swung to an 
excess of submission which was as faulty as his refusal had 
been. 

Now, this distinctness and consistency of individuality 
which we mark in Peter, wherever we meet him in the New 
Testament, is a striking proof, all the more striking because 
it is incidental, of the credibility of the sacred writers. The 
highest triumph of dramatic genius is secured when the poet 
is able to give through the actions of his characters a sep- 
arate and easily recognized identity of disposition to each 
person whom he represents. Some have attempted to ac- 
complish this by putting certain words into a man's lips, 
which he is made to speak on all occasions ; others have 
tried to attain it by stamping the individual with some exter- 
nal mark, such as provincialism of dialect, or stammering in 



The Washing of the Feet. 129 

speech ; but the unapproachable eminence of Shakespeare 
is apparent in the fact that he has succeeded in allowing his 
greatest characters to develop themselves before us in a nat- 
ural yet consistent manner, so that we feel that we recognize 
them at each reappearance. Even he, however, has not al- 
ways accomplished that. But here, in the Gospel narratives, 
and in the apostolic history, the sacred writers have done it 
successfully for the chief actors whom they introduce to our 
notice. You can not mistake John for Peter, or Peter for Paul, 
or Paul for Barnabas. Each has his own distinct individu- 
ality ; and that is given to him without any attempt on the 
part of the writers to describe him to us. So far as I know, 
Barnabas is the only one of those whom I have named of 
whom we have any thing like a description, and even of him 
the historian only says, " He was a good man." They are al- 
lowed to define themselves to us by their words and actions, 
and yet each stands out before us in living distinctness, and 
is never found acting out of character. Here, for example, is 
Peter, who figures prominently in the works of Matthew, Mark, 
Luke, and John, and in one of the letters of Paul. Five writers, 
distinct from each other, producing their works at separate 
times, and entirely independently of each other, represent him 
in distinct situations. John has shown him in circumstances 
of which the other three are silent ; Luke has things about 
him of which Mark and Matthew say nothing; and Paul has 
referred to his action at a time of which none of the others 
have any account ; yet in them all Peter stands out before 
us the same man, easily recognizable by those features which 
I have tried to describe. Here, therefore, are five authors 
working separately and independently, yet they produce in 
their portrayal of Peter a dramatic unity of character which 
has been secured in poetry only by the loftiest genius, and not 
always even by that. How shall we account for this? We 
can not explain it, if these records are forgeries, or have to 

6* 



130 Peter, the Apostle. 

do with things which did not occur. We can account for it 
only on the supposition that each of these five men was de- 
scribing real occurrences in the history of a real man, and 
thus we have a valuable branch of corroborative evidence in 
behalf of the genuineness and credibility of the New Testa- 
ment Scriptures. 

But, while we give due attention to the important bearing 
of the consistency with which Peter's character is revealed 
to us by the sacred writers, on the question of the reliability 
of the record, we must not lose sight of the contrast here 
suggested by the Saviour's words, " but not all," between the 
disposition of Peter and that of Judas. The traitor was pres- 
ent all through this singular ministry of Jesus to his follow- 
ers ; and as we see from one of the early verses of the chap- 
ter (John xiii., 2), he had already formed the determination 
to betray the Lord, yet he made no objection to the washing 
of his feet. He accepted this token of his Master's affec- 
tion as a thing of course. The mere onlooker might have 
preferred his demeanor to that of Peter, but in reality there 
was a tremendous difference between the two men ; and 
though we can not give Peter unqualified praise, yet it is bet- 
ter far to have his honest impulsiveness, even if it do blunder 
now and then, than the cunning duplicity of Judas; though, 
of course, it is still better to have the calm and trustful sub- 
mission of John and the others, who let the Lord do to them 
as he pleased, and waited for his explanation in his own 
time. 

But now let us ask what the meaning of the Saviour in 
this enigmatical action was. He has told us himself in these 
words, " Know ye what I have done unto you ? Ye call me 
Master and Lord : and ye say well, for so 1" am. If I then, 
your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought 
to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an ex- 
ample, that you should do as I have done to you. Verily, 



The Washing of the Feet. 131 

verily, the servant is not greater than his lord, neither he 
that is sent greater than he that sent him." He had conde- 
scended to do for them the office of a slave, and so they 
ought to perform similar offices for each other. Christian 
disciples are to help each other even if, in doing that, they 
should sometimes require to stoop to the lowly position of a 
servant. That seems to me to be the general lesson which 
our Lord meant to teach on this occasion, but we must be- 
ware of frittering away its force by restricting it to one stated 
sort of service. 

We read that Thomas a Becket had "thirteen poor men 
daily introduced into his apartment, at the hour when they 
were least likely to be observed, and, having washed and 
kissed their feet, he regaled them with a plentiful meal, at 
which he himself waited on them, and sent them away with 
a present of four pieces of silver to each ;"* and we are told 
that on a certain day of high ceremonial the Bishop of Rome 
washes the feet of twelve men. Now, it is to be presumed 
that Becket was sincere, and that the Pope is sincere, in the 
desire to follow in the footsteps of the Lord. But, in all such 
services as these, the repetition of the letter of the Lord's 
example is mistaken for the manifestation of the spirit which 
breathed through the Master's act. The outward thing which 
he did is done again once every day, or once every year, as 
the case may be, while that which he really enjoined was the 
constant exercise of that spirit of self-sacrifice which under- 
lay and inspired his action. In the mere externalism of 
such ceremonials as these, the force of the Saviour's in- 
junction is restricted to one special work, performed at some 
particular time, while he designed it to have free course 
through all the life. He meant that as his disciples we 



* " Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury ; a Biography," by James 
Craigie Robertson, M.A., p. 58. 



132 Peter, the Apostle. 

should always seek to serve each other, even if in doing sc> 
we should have to lay aside our dignity, or to deny ourselves 
our wonted comforts, or even to lay down our lives. Such 
an act as that of Becket's, no matter how sincerely it was per- 
formed, bears to the example of our Saviour here the same 
relation that a portrait does to a man : it is a likeness, but 
it wants the life ; it catches one expression of the original 
and it fixes that, but it gives no conception of the manifold 
aspects of which it was capable. There is an immense dif- 
ference between a copy and an imitation. The copyist works 
from without, and reproduces the external appearance ; the 
imitator labors from within, and, catching the spirit, he lets 
that work itself out as it may. We are not to copy Christ, 
for every copy will turn out to be a caricature ; but we are 
to let " this mind be in us which was also in him," and then 
the ever-varying circumstances of our lives will furnish new 
opportunities for the development of the principles on which 
the Master acted. 

But while all this is true, I can not help thinking that the 
words of our Lord to Peter, ere yet he began to expound the 
significance of his act to the apostles, suggest a certain spe- 
cial spiritual application of this general lesson of love and 
self-sacrifice. He said, in answer to that disciple's request 
to have his head and his hands washed as well as his feet, 
" He that is washed, needeth not save to wash his feet, but 
is clean every whit, and ye are clean, but not all." Now the 
one word "wash" in this text is used as the English equiva- 
lent for two distinct Greek terms. The first time it occurs, 
"he that is washed," it is, literally (6 XeXovpivog), "he that 
has been bathed." Tne second time it appears, " needeth 
not save to wash his feet," it is (ri\paadai) the exact equiv- 
alent of our word to "wash." The one verb denotes the 
washing of the body as a whole, the other the cleansing 
of any part of the body as distinguished from the whole. 



The Washing of the Feet. 133 

In its literal application it implies that he who has gone 
fresh from his own bath to the house of his host needs 
not to be bathed again, but requires only to have re- 
moved from his feet the dust which they have contracted in 
his walk. 

But from the expression of the Lord, "Ye are clean, but 
not all," it is plain that he meant the whole sentence to be 
taken spiritually. And if this be so, then its significance 
may be thus expressed : He who has been once renewed 
by the washing of regeneration, does not require to be re- 
newed again. A man is born but once spiritually, even as 
he is born but once naturally. Regeneration needs not to 
be repeated. All that one needs after that is to have his 
feet washed ; that is, to have removed from him the impuri- 
ties which adhere to him in consequence of his having to 
walk daily through this defiling world. 

Now this we Christians, even at the cost of our dignity 
and comfort, must do for each other. Doubtless there is a 
sense in which Christ alone can take away sin ; yet when 
one is overtaken in a fault,* Paul exhorts those who are 
spiritual to restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. 
Therefore that is the specific form in which, as interpreted 
by the narrative itself, we are to "wash one another's feet." 
We are to help to restore one another. We are to minister 
to the promotion of each other's holiness by being careful 
not "to suffer sin upon a brother." We are thus made each 
other's keepers in a very important sense. When we see 
one going astray, we may not content ourselves with sighing 
over "the pity of it," but we ought to endeavor to bring him 
back. And when a faithful brother, observing that we are 
in danger, comes to us with warning and expostulation, we 
are to welcome his offices as gratefully as the Eastern visitor 

* Gal. v., 1. 



134 Peter, the Apostle. 

received the washing Of his feet from the servant of the host 
into whose house he entered. 

Every one will see that the delicacy of this duty makes it 
a very difficult one to perform; and if we are not very spe- 
cially on our guard, even with the best possible intentions, 
we may do more harm than good. Hence, when in this 
sense we seek to wash a brother's feet, we must be very care- 
ful about three things, which I give in the quaint way in 
which I have somewhere seen them expressed : 

i. "The water must not be too hot." Above all things 
else, this office of love must be performed " in the spirit of 
meekness." We must not aggravate our brother's humilia- 
tion by an overbearing or patronizing manner. It is a pain- 
ful thing to be spoken to concerning our faults, be the man- 
ner of our censor what it may, and so we should see to it 
that we give no added cause of offense in the way in which 
we do it. Much may be learned here from the Saviour's 
own dealings with his followers. " His gentleness made 
them great." His tenderness gave strength even to his re- 
proofs ; and it would be well if, like the woman with the 
Lord, we could wash our erring brother's feet with our tears. 

2. " Our own hands should be clean." To no purpose will 
we seek to win a brother from sin if we be ourselves guilty 
of the very thing which is blamable in him. Among the 
peasantry of Scotland, on the night before a wedding, the 
bachelor companions of the bridegroom contrive to catch 
him in an unguarded moment, and, carrying him away to a 
convenient place, they pretend to wash his feet ; but each 
one who dips his hand into the water has had it first black- 
ened with soot, and it is not needful to describe what the 
issue is. Now, when I have heard one who is himself ad- 
dicted to some sin seeking to expostulate with another for 
the same iniquity, I have been reminded of that national 
horse-play which so often made the Scottish homesteads ring 



The Washing of the Feet. 135 

with merriment. Only there is no merriment here ; for it is 
not so easy to wash off sin as soot. He who, being guilty 
of an evil himself, seeks to deal with another for the same 
evil, will inevitably make that other worse than ever. Let 
him go first, and learn what that meaneth: "How wilt thou 
say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine 
eye ; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye ? Thou hypo- 
crite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then 
shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy broth- 
er's eye."* 

3. "We must be ready to submit our own feet to the proc- 
ess." The washing is to go all round. See, it is written, " Ye 
also ought to wash one another's feet." That which when 
done by us is a kindness to a brother, is equally a kindness 
when done by him to us. We are not infallible ; and, when 
we fall, we are ourselves often the persons who know or feel 
the least about the evil which has overtaken us. 

In such minor matters as external habits we may be guilty 
of doing the most grotesque things, .and yet be quite uncon- 
scious of the ridiculous figure we are constantly making of 
ourselves, so it is a blessing to have some one who loves us 
well enough to tell us about them. In the same way we 
may be falling into spiritual snares which are stealing away 
our strength, and yet we may not be aware of the fact until 
some kind brother opens our eyes to it. What a blessing it 
is to have some one who cares for us enough to do such an 
office ! Seeing us with the impartiality of a stranger, yet 
loving us with the affection of a fellow-disciple, he enables us 
to observe and correct our faults, and thus renders us the 
best of all services. Let us gratefully receive it as such ; 
and even if he should blunder in his manner, let us forgive 
that on the ground of the kindness of his intention. 

* Matt, vii., 4, 5. 



136 Peter, the Apostle. 

Brethren, if the members of our churches were to act on 
these principles toward each other, church-membership would 
mean something, and we should furnish a noble commen- 
tary on the words of the apostle : " Consider one another to 
evoke one another to love and to good works." 

But I can not conclude without recalling, for the comfort 
of some and for the warning of others, these two sayings of 
the Lord to Peter, " What I do thou knowest not now, but 
thou shalt know hereafter;" and, "If I wash thee not, thou 
hast no part with me." What consolation and reassurance 
there is in the former of these expressions to those who are 
suffering under the afflictive dispensations of the providence 
of God ! He sends upon us some sore bereavement, or 
brings upon us some dreadful calamity. We are cast upon 
a sick-bed, or our business is completely ruined, or, do as 
we will, we can find no means of earning our support, and 
are at our wit's end. We can not see what he is designing. 
The valley is too dark, and, besides, the tears bedim our 
eyes. So we are dreadfully perplexed. But "we shall know 
hereafter ;" and for that hereafter we have not always to wait 
until we have passed through death, for very frequently, even 
in our earthly lives, we see, before a great while, what the 
Lord meant ; and, lo ! he has been, as in the present case, 
"washing our feet." Ah, how often have we had occasion 
to say, " It has been good for me that I have been afflicted !" 
Our trials have been the means of purifying away our dross, 
even as the fire refines the gold. And since we have had 
such experiences in the past, we may surely trust him for 
the future. So, instead of repelling all his discipline and 
rebelling against it, let us calmly submit to his will, content 
to let him do with us as seemeth good in his sight. That 
is true faith which is submissive in the darkness, pillowing 
its head on this word, which, precious as it is, had not been 
spoken, had it not been for Peter's waywardness: "What 



The Washing of the Feet. 137 

I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know here- 
after." 

But how terrible is this other saying, " If I wash thee not, 
thou hast no part with me !" That does not mean, as some 
modern ritualists would have us believe, " Except ye be bap- 
tized ye can not be saved." Such an explanation is a pitiful 
perversion of the Lord's words, and reduces them to the mer- 
est externalism. He had a much deeper thought in his mind 
at the moment, and it was as if he had said, " If you will not 
accept washing at my hands, I can do nothing for you." The 
blessings of his salvation may be separately enumerated and 
considered by us ; but they always go together. Just as one 
may make a separate study of heat and light in the sun's 
rays, though they invariably exist together, so we may speak 
of forgiveness and sanctification at different times ; but in the 
experience of salvation they are inseparable. You can not 
have the one without the other. You can not have pardon 
and yet keep your sins. If you are to be saved at all, you 
must be saved from your sins, not in them. 

Now, that is immensely important. Multitudes are willing 
enough to accept pardon if they can only retain the sin. 
They like well enough the forgiveness, but they dislike the 
holiness. Let these know, however, that if Christ wash them 
not, they " have no part in him." There is no salvation, nay, 
not even forgiveness, for those who are not willing to be pu- 
rified. How is it with you, my hearer? Surely when the 
case is thus presented to you, you will make your prayer, in 
David's words, " Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clear; : 
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." 



X. 

DENIAL, 

Matt, xxvi., 69-75 ; Mark xiv., 54, 66-72; Luke xxii., 31-32, 54-63; 
John xviii., 15-18; 25-27. 

FROM the supper-table, shortly after the washing of his 
disciples' feet by our Lord, Judas went out to com- 
plete the arrangements for the betrayal, and then, after fore- 
telling that he should be deserted by his followers and denied 
by Peter, the Saviour instituted that delightful ordinance 
which every true-hearted Christian loves to observe. This 
was followed by those tender addresses which John has pre- 
served for us in his gospel; and then, after singing a hymn 
together, and listening to that wonderful prayer of inter- 
cession which has more of heaven about it than of earth, the 
eleven went with their Master out into the full moonlight, 
and took their way down into the valley, across the Kedron, 
and into the garden of Gethsemane. 

There the favored three were the near witnesses of that 
mysterious agony which pressed the blood through the pores 
like sweat; and the overhearers of those earnest prayers 
in answer to which a ministering angel came to him with 
strength. There, too, they saw the traitor come to point out 
their Lord to the band that were ordered to apprehend him ; 
and thence two of them, namely, Peter and John, followed 
him to the palace of the high -priest, in or near tlje court- 
yard of which our usually courageous apostle weakly and 
wickedly denied his Master. 

It is a sad and suggestive chapter in his history, the de- 



Denial. 139 

tails of which, as gathered from the pages of the four evan- 
gelists, will come out as we proceed; but so much of general 
preface was needed, in order to connect the incidents which 
are to-night before us with those which we considered in our 
last discourse. Before proceeding, however, it will contribute 
to a better understanding of all the circumstances if we set 
before you as clearly as possible the place in which the sever- 
al denials were made, and endeavor to harmonize the differ- 
ent accounts which the several evangelists have given of 
them. 

As regards the place, all difficulty will disappear when we 
remember that an Oriental house is commonly built on the 
sides of a quadrangular interior court. Into this court there 
is a passage, sometimes arched, through the front part of the 
house, and closed at the end next the street by a heavy fold- 
ing gate, having in it a small wicket for single passengers, and 
kept by a servant or porter. The interior court, often paved 
or flagged, and generally open to the sky, is the hall spoken 
of in the narrative where the attendants made a fire ; and 
the passage beneath the front of the house from the street 
into the court is that which is called the porch. The cham- 
ber in which Jesus stood before the high-priest was probably 
an open room or place of audience on the ground-floor, in 
the rear, and open in front, such rooms being, in fact, quite 
common. 

We have nothing exactly corresponding to this, so far as I 
know, in our own city; but I have been in a hotel in Paris 
which enabled me quite to realize all that is here described, 
and they who have visited the Langham Hotel, in London, 
may with a little imagination reproduce all the incidents re- 
corded in this section of the sacred story. At least, by keep- 
ing in mind what has been said, we can easily understand 
how in the open room behind the Lord could turn and 
look upon Peter standing with the servants in the court, 



140 Peter, the Apostle. 

when by the crowing of the cock he was, as it were, remind- 
ed of his servant's fall. 

Then, as to the order of the incidents given by the evan- 
gelists, the following summary may serve to give a clear and 
harmonious account of what occurred : The first denial 
seems to have been connected with Peter's admission to the 
house through the wicket. By John we are told that the 
damsel that kept the door was his first assailant; by Matthew 
we are informed that she came to him as he sat without in 
the court; and by Mark and Luke it is said that this first 
denial was made while he was sitting with the servants by 
the charcoal fire. But we have only to suppose that the 
porteress followed him from the gate into the court, "chaf- 
fing" him all the way, and that when she came to the fire 
the other servants joined her in her taunts, and then we have 
a full and consistent harmony of all the four accounts. 

The second denial, according to John, was made while 
Peter was standing by the fire, when it is represented that he 
was set upon by more than one at a time, for the words are, 
"They said unto him." By Matthew it is alleged that he 
went out into the porch, and another maid accosted him. 
By Mark he is represented as being attacked by the same 
maid as before; while by Luke it is simply said "another 
saw him." Now, here again, all difficulty vanishes when we 
suppose that the apostle was assailed by a number of per- 
sons at once, who followed him about from one part of the 
court to another, and to whom he made what was substantial- 
ly the same reply, though it was repeated more than once in 
different forms, and was in one case accompanied with an 
oath. 

The third denial is connected by John with the recogni- 
tion of Peter by a kinsman of that Malchus whose ear Peter 
had cut off in the garden of Gethsemane. By Matthew it is 
said to have occurred " after a while," and more than one 



Denial. 141 

assailant is referred to, for the words are "they say unto 
him," while special allusion is made to his Galilean accent. 
Mark agrees with Matthew, and Luke says substantially the 
same thing, although he mentions only one assailant. But 
here, again, all is plain on the supposition that Peter was set 
upon simultaneously by a number of persons. 

The narratives do not require us to believe that Peter ut- 
tered words of denial only three times, each time to only one 
person. Rather they suggest to any one who is accustomed 
to sift evidence that he was, on three distinct occasions, 
assailed by a number of persons at once, who questioned 
him as to whether he had been with Jesus. He was made 
the object three times that night of general banter and as- 
sault by a company of the high-priest's servants, who con- 
sidered it a good joke to torment him by working on his 
fears. 

This view of the case not only enables us to harmonize the 
narratives, but also helps us to understand more clearly the 
nature of the temptation before which Peter fell ; for in the 
state of mind in which the apostle was, after all he had seen 
and experienced during the preceding hours, nothing could 
well have been more exasperating than to be baited, badger- 
ed, and bantered by a company of thoughtless and unfeeling 
lackeys, who to the malice of their masters added a coarse- 
ness that was all their own. But now, having obtained a 
clear conception of the circumstances in which the denials 
were made, let us attend a little first to the precursors of 
this fall. 

Among these we give a prominent place to self-confi- 
dence. At different times during the Last Supper, and in 
the conversations after it, Peter expressed himself after this 
fashion : " Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny 
thee." " Although all shall be offended, yet will not I." " I 
am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death." 



142 Peter, the Apostle. 

" I will lay down my life for thy sake."* And when he said 
these things he was sincere. He felt all he said. Hy- 
pocrisy was foreign to his nature ; so foreign, indeed, that 
when he tried to practice it, he made such poor work of 
it as to lay himself open to the banter of his assailants. It 
will not do, therefore, to speak of him as insincere in his 
protestations of attachment to the Lord. We must not 
forget either that he was the only one of the eleven, save 
John, who followed Jesus into the palace of the high-priest. 
The others had forsaken the Master altogether for the time, 
and so, in a sense, Peter's greater guilt than theirs was ow- 
ing to his greater love. But the root of the evil in him was 
that " he trusted in his own heart." Just as when he set out 
upon the water to go to Jesus, he thought he could do more 
than the others, and in trying to do that he began to sink; so 
now again, in attempting to manifest more courage than they, 
he fell into a deeper humiliation than theirs. His self-con- 
fidence threw him off his guard, and made him think that he 
had no need to pray for strength, and so he fell an easy vic- 
tim to the tempter's stratagems. 

But the same effect will follow boastfulness and self-con- 
fidence in us. " A proud look goeth before a fall," and it 
is the man who thinketh he standeth who has the greatest 
need to take heed lest he fall. The most confident swim- 
mers are they who are most in danger of drowning, just from 
the rash venturesomeness which their overassurance inspires. 
The most conceited drivers are they who most frequently 
upset the coach. And the greatest braggadocio in the camp 
is sometimes also the greatest coward in the field. Let us 
therefore not be high-minded, but fear. We can not depend 
too much on God; for when we sincerely trust him, we shall 
also implicitly obey him. But we can not depend too little 

* Matt, xxvi., 35 ; Mark xiv., 29 ; Luke xxii., 33 ; John xiii.,37. 



Denial. 143 

on ourselves; for "he that trusteth in his own heart is a 
fool." 

Another precursor of this denial was rashness. When 
Jesus was in the garden, and about to be apprehended, Peter 
drew the sword which he carried, and cut off the ear of 
Malchus, one of the servants of the high-priest. The Lord 
himself immediately interfered, and miraculously cured the 
wound. But Peter's act was rash, and it has always seemed 
to me that it had much to do with his denials. John was 
known to be a disciple of Jesus; but he was in no danger, 
and was not assailed. Peter, however, had undeniably com- 
mitted an assault which made him amenable to the law, and 
might subject him to punishment; and it is not improbable 
that he was tempted to deny that he knew the Lord in order 
to save himself from being apprehended for that crime. 
This view seems to be corroborated by the fact that it was 
when the kinsmen of Malchus spoke to him that he began 
"to curse and swear."* Perhaps, therefore, if he had not 
been so rash with his weapon, the fear of man might not have 
been so strong within him as to induce him to declare that 
he was not a disciple. But whether this were true in his 
case or not, it is indisputable that many men by their inju- 
dicious recklessness have put themselves into circumstances 
where they were sorely tempted to utter a false word. And 
it might have been said regarding them that if it had not been 
for their foolhardiness in the first instance, they would not 
have felt any force in the temptation in the second. Mis- 
placed bravery is very often, as in this instance, the fore- 
runner of cowardice. If by our folly we put ourselves in 
jeopardy, we are on the highway to falsehood in order to 
get ourselves out again. The safe course, therefore, is to be 
upon our guard, and to follow the advice of that official in 

* John xvii., 26, 27, with Mark xiv., 70, 71. 



144 Peter, the Apostle. 

ancient Ephesus whom I have generally found to be my 
wisest counselor, and who said to his fellow -citizens that 
they should "do nothing rashly."* 

Another precursor of these denials was distance from the 
Lord. One of the evangelists tells us that " Peter followed 
— afar off."t It was well that he followed at all ; but 
there was peril in the distance at which he kept from 
Jesus. It would seem that Peter and John came to the 
porch of the high-priest's palace some time after Jesus 
had been conducted through it, and that John, being known 
to the servants, entered first alone, and then came back 
for Peter. John, as we may conjecture, went immediately 
forward to the place where Jesus was, but Peter lingered 
among the servants, and so exposed himself to their at- 
tacks. Had he gone straight up, and placed himself at 
the side of his Master, the sight of the meek majesty of the 
patient sufferer would at once have given him strength; and 
neither man nor devil would have moved him to do him dis- 
honor. But he was in the midst of evil surroundings, and 
he fell. As a good Scotch woman used to say about him, 
" He had nae business among the flunkeys." This witness 
is true : he ought to have been close by his Lord. If we are 
going to follow Jesus at all, the easiest as well as the safest 
way to do so is to follow him fully. Decision wards off at- 
tack. If Peter's assailants had not seen that they were annoy- 
ing him, they would have stopped at once. But when they 
observed him wincing under every blow, they only struck the 
harder. Often a weak army has held a stronger one at bay 
by simply making a judicious show of force; so we may keep 
our adversaries from assailing us by the very decision of our 
course. And who should be decided, if not we ? Is not 
Christ on our side, if we be on his ? And while we keep 

* Acts xix., 36. t Matt, xxvi., 58. 



Denial. 145 

true to him, what real harm can come to us ? Trimming is 
a courting of attack ; decision carries all before it, because 
it carries God with it. If, therefore, you propose to follow 
Christ at all, see that you keep close to him and follow him 
fully. 

But now let us look a little at the aggravations of these 
denials. These were many. For one thing, Peter had been 
well warned of his danger. Away back, months before, un- 
der the parable of his walking on the waters, the Lord had 
let him see into his own heart, and had shown him the peril 
of a disposition such as his. One would have thought, too, 
that the discipline to which he had been subjected for his 
rebuke of his Master, for his foolish request upon the mount- 
ain-top, and for his conduct in connection with the washing 
of his feet, might have taught him to be less boastful and 
self-confident. But to all these had been added plain and 
direct statements of the precise sort of weakness before which 
he was to fall; and still he took no heed. We have a prov- 
erb to this effect, "Forewarned, forearmed." Yet even 
though the Lord spake to him in the solemnest manner,* and 
told him of the searching nature of the ordeal to which he 
was to be subjected, his words produced little effect, and 
Satan found in him an easy victim. But similar warnings 
have been given to us. We, too, have been put upon our 
guard, in such passages as these, " In the world ye shall 
have tribulation ;" "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you 
like men, be strong ;" and if, after these commands have been 
addressed to us, we allow ourselves from lack of vigilance to 
be taken prisoners by the enemy, our guilt will be greater 
far than that of those to whom no such messages have been 
sent. 

Another aggravation of Peter's denials was connected with 

* Luke xxii., 31, 32. 
7 



146 Peter, the Apostle. 

the time at which they were uttered. It was with Jesus him- 
self " the hour and the power of darkness." He had just 
risen, all breathless and bleeding, from the endurance of that 
inscrutable agony which came upon him in Gethsemane. 
His cheek was yet almost moist with the impress of the 
traitor's lips upon it; and his heart was sore at the thought 
that, of the other eleven, only two cared to be near him in 
the climax of his necessity. Was this the time, then, for 
Peter to wound him yet more deeply by his denial ? It is 
never right to turn the back on Jesus; but surely it is most 
disgraceful to do so when he is suffering indignity at the 
hands of others. If for no other reason than because so 
many others had forsaken him, the apostle whom he had so 
loved and honored ought to have been firm. And in days 
like these in which we live, when men in many circles are 
mocking Christ, as really as the Roman soldiers did when 
they arrayed him in the garments of a make-believe royalty; 
when Judases in the Church are betraying him with the kiss 
of falsehood; and when Sadducean philosophers in the 
world are robbing him of his deity, it will be an awful shame 
in us, who owe to him all our happiness now, and all the 
'iopes we are cherishing for hereafter, if we let ourselves 
be influenced by such examples, and deny the Lord that 
bought us. 

Further, these denials were aggravated in Peter's case by 
the fact that the Lord had given him many special tokens of 
his regard. He had been peculiarly privileged. One of the 
first three of the chosen band, he had witnessed the raising 
of Jairus's daughter; he had been on the Mount of Trans- 
figuration; and had been taken as far into Gethsemane as it 
was possible for human sympathy to accompany a divine 
sufferer. Nay, he had received certain individual marks of 
favor at the time of his memorable confession. Yet he de- 
nied the Lord. Truly " the best of men are but men at the 



Denial. 147 

best." Privilege does not guarantee perfection; and even a 
holy apostle is seen here as a blaspheming sinner. But what 
had Peter's privileges been thus far to ours ? There is scarce- 
ly a scholar in our Sunday-schools to-day who does not 
know more about Christ, and has not received more from 
Christ, than Peter at this stage of his history. We often speak 
as if it were otherwise. But the more you think it out, the 
stronger will be your conviction of the truth of our assertion 
that we know far more of Christ, and owe far more to Christ 
to-day, than the first apostles did. If, therefore, we should 
betray him into his enemies' hands, or deny him through the 
fear of men, our guilt will be immensely greater than that of 
Judas or of Peter. Do not think, therefore, that you can not 
sin after this fashion. Realize your danger, and let your 
prayer ascend, " Hold thou up my goings in thy paths, that 
my footsteps slip not." 

Finally, here these denials were aggravated by the manner 
in which they were made. Peter was not content with one 
denial. It was repeated. It was repeated with an oath. 
It was repeated with "cursing and swearing." In his early 
years the son of Jonas had been a fisherman on the Galilean 
lake. He belonged to a class of men engaged in a peril- 
ous labor, and living a wild and reckless life. Among 
them, therefore, it is probable that he had contracted the 
habit of profane swearing ; and though he had broken it off 
for years, it came back upon him now in his moment of 
weakness, and added its element of guilt to the general 
enormity of his conduct. When one has recovered from a 
dangerous disease, such a local weakness is left in the or- 
gan which had been affected that whenever a severe strain 
comes upon the constitution it is sure to feel it first and 
worst So even after one has conquered an evil habit, there 
is left in his character a proneness to fall back into it again 
at every time of crisis, and thus God makes us frequently to 



148 Peter, the Apostle. 

possess " the sins of our youth." How important it is, there- 
fore, never to acquire evil habits, lest in some hour of weak- 
ness they come back upon us with seven other sins, more and 
worse than themselves ! Behold, too, how iniquities seldom 
come singly ! The lie links itself on to the oath, and the 
oath, being already blasphemy, prepares the way for the 

curse. 

" Ah ! what a tangled web we weave 
When first we practice to deceive." 

Peter did not think of all this when he rose from the sup- 
per-table a few hours before. But he went on step by step ; 
and the first error was in his self-confidence. That was the 
germ from which all these evils sprung; and had he kept 
himself from that " secret fault," he had never been guilty 
of this "great transgression."* Let not the lesson be lost 
on us. 

But let us look now at the sequel of these denials. When 
Peter said for the third time " I am not," the cock crew. 
Mark tells us that the same thing followed the first denial; 
but these circumstantial variations strengthen, rather than 
weaken, the force of the testimony given by the evangelists, 
establishing as they do their perfect independence of each 
other. Luke informs us also that, just at the moment when 
the cock crew, " the Lord turned and looked upon Peter." 
What a look that was ! It was a mingling of reproof, of 
tenderness, and of entreaty. It reminded Peter of the warn- 
ings he had received, of the kindness he had so ungratefully 
met, and especially of the words of love which had been so 
recently addressed to him : " Simon ! behold, Satan hath de- 
sired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat ; but I have 
prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and when thou art con- 
verted, strengthen thy brethren." f He saw then what he had 



* Psa. xix., 12, 13. t Luke xxii., 31, 32. 



Denial. 149 

done, and in a moment the fountains of the great deep within 
him were broken up, for, overcome with shame and sorrow, 
"he went out and wept bitterly." Yet all through the bit- 
terness there remained with him the memory of that loving 
look and of these assuring words, " I have prayed for thee, 
that thy faith fail not." He lived on that look till the Master 
met him after the resurrection; and the thought of that pray- 
er kept him from falling into despair. Had it not been for 
these things, he, too, might have gone, like Judas, and hang- 
ed himself; but as it was in the cases of these two disciples, 
we have clearly unfolded to us the difference between repent- 
ance and remorse. Repentance springs from the contem- 
plation of our sin, in the light of Christ's love ; remorse 
from the consideration of our sin in the mere light of con- 
science and of law. Repentance keeps us in hope ; remorse 
drives us to despair. Repentance brings us back to Jesus ; 
remorse drives us farther from him. Repentance leads to 
newness of life; remorse sends us yet more deeply into sin. 

Whoso, therefore, seeks to repent, must have Christ as the 
centre of that exercise, for we can obtain a true view of our 
sins only at the foot of his cross. It is an anticipation of the 
history, but we must add that the Lord recognized the gen- 
uineness of Peter's penitence in that private interview which 
he had with him on the day of his resurrection, and in that 
public restoration of him to his apostolic office by the sea of 
Galilee, the account of which forms the appendix to John's 
gospel ; while, as we shall see when we come to analyze his 
epistles, some of the sweetest passages in them were the re- 
sult of this painful chapter in his personal history. 

I have endeavored throughout this discourse to give a prac- 
tical turn to the subject, and any thing like formal applica- 
tion is almost unnecessary. I content myself with one or 
two inferences which are too important to be overlooked. 
In the first place, great prominence in Christ's service does 



150 Peter, the Apostle. 

not keep us from peril. Peter was one of the first three of 
the apostles, yet he fell. The truth is, the only safeguard 
for any man is in keeping close to Christ, and trusting im- 
plicitly to him. So far from eminence in Christian service 
insuring one against attack, it very often makes him only 
the more prominent as a mark for the fiery darts of the wick- 
ed one. When Satan thinks it worth while to bestir himself 
about a man, it is because that man is doing yeoman's serv- 
ice for his Master. He does not waste his skill upon no- 
bodies. He looks for "foemen worthy of his steel." He 
tries to pick off the officers in " the sacramental host of God's 
elect;" and just when one is most useful and eminent in the 
service of the Lord, he is in the greatest possible danger. 
His fiercest onslaught was on the Lord himself, and those 
who are nearest him in character and devotion are still the 
objects of the adversary's most insidious assaults. When- 
ever Christ is honoring you by making you instrumental in 
bringing many into his kingdom, look out for being sifted as 
wheat by Satan! and if you would save yourselves from fall- 
ing before him, be humble, be vigilant, be prayerful. Above 
all, follow Christ fully, and keep the servants of the world's 
high-priests at a safe distance from you. 

Remember, in the second place, that our greatest danger 
does not always lie where we are weakest, but is sometimes 
where we are usually strongest. Peter's characteristic was 
honesty; yet he fell into deceit. Peter's nature was coura- 
geous, yet here he manifests cowardice. So eminent as Abra- 
ham was in faith, it was in faith that he most signally failed ; 
remarkable as Job was for patience, it was in that very thing 
that he gave way ; and though Moses was " meek above all 
the men that dwelt upon the earth," his meekness gave place 
to irritability at Meribah, and that, too, before a provocation 
which seems to us to have been the smallest of his life. Let 
us learn, therefore, not to relax our watchfulness in any one 



Denial. 151 

particular. If we begin to think ourselves strong in any 
characteristic, then is the moment of our clanger. By many 
sore experiences Paul was led to say, " When I am weak, then 
am I strong;" for his weakness sent him to the Lord, who 
said, "My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made 
perfect in weakness." But the converse of his words is also 
sadly true ; for when we are strong, then are we weak, and 
when we begin to think that some one principle is powerful 
in us, we are in danger of failing in that very thing. What 
need, therefore, of unslumbering vigilance in our daily lives ! 
Finally, if Peter's fall is a warning against overconfidence, 
his restoration ought to be an antidote to all despair. We 
have seen how aggravated his guilt was, yet Jesus took him 
back; and no matter how heinous our iniquity may have 
been, he will heal our backsliding also, if we go to him in 
penitence and prayer. The greatest sin we can commit 
against him is to despair of his grace. Oh, if there be any 
one here to-night who has been denying Christ, let me be- 
seech him now to return ! As you think of your father's 
house, where you were taught to know and love the Lord ; as 
you remember the privileges you enjoyed in the Sunday- 
school, and at your mother's knee, where first you learned to 
lisp the words of prayer ; as you recall the ecstasy of the 
hour when, before the Church and the world, you confessed 
Christ as your Saviour and Lord ; and then, as you reflect 
on all that you have done since — on your falseness, your im- 
purity, your profanity, aye, it may be your dishonesty — you 
may be apt to sink into despair. But no ! no ! no ! Do not 
despair. Do not judge the Lord Jesus by the standard of 
your own heart; do not judge him even by the character 
and conduct of those who call themselves his followers. 
Judge him only by his own words and actions ! Is it not 
written, "If from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, 
thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and 



152 Peter, the Apostle. 

with all thy soul." Even from thence ! What do these 
words mean? They mean anywhere this side of hell. 
Think of Peter, then, and go back to Jesus. He will heal 
your backsliding ; he will love you freely. Go, and weep 
your tears of penitence over his feet, for he saith unto thee, 
" Thy sins are forgiven thee." 



XL 

BY THE LAKE OF GALILEE. 
John xxi. 

THE twenty-first chapter of the Gospel by John, to which 
we are indebted for the incidents which are now to 
come under our review, may be regarded as an appendix to 
the treatise in which it is incorporated. But, though bear- 
ing upon it the mark of having been written at a later date 
than the main narrative, it has also unmistakable indications 
of the same author's hand. The simplicity of the style, the 
incidental allusions in the story, the recurrence of certain 
forms of expression which are frequently found in his other 
writings, and the personal references in the closing verses, 
are all characteristic of " the disciple whom Jesus loved ;" 
and, as we pass from the body of the Gospel into this epi- 
logue, we are conscious of no such transition as that which 
we must have felt had we been going from the writings of 
one author to those of another. Like the side -chapel in 
some beautiful cathedral, while it has certain features of dis- 
tinctive excellence, it so harmonizes in manner and appear- 
ance with the principal edifice as to convey the impression 
that it is the creation of the same great architect who de- 
signed the structure of which it is an adjunct. 

Nor is it difficult to divine the motives by which its author 
was actuated in making this addition to his former work. 
Principally and especially, he desired to commend to his 
readers the gentleness of Christ, as that comes out in his 
treatment of the apostle who had thrice denied him \ but in- 

3* 



154 Peter, the Apostle. 

cidentally he gives us also an account of the renewal of Pe- 
ter's commission, and so accredits him to all his readers. 
I call particular attention to this incidental effect produced 
upon the student by this chapter, because Renan has affirmed 
that " in his old age the Apostle John commenced to dictate 
a few things which he knew better than the rest, with the in- 
tention of showing that in many instances in which only Pe- 
ter was spoken of, he had figured with him, and even before 
him."* 

But who that has read the Gospel even in the most cursory 
manner can accept such a statement? Is it possible that 
the divinest book in the world could have had its origin in 
the personal pique and petty pride of its author? Is it con- 
ceivable that the man who throughout his treatise has never 
mentioned his own name, and has kept himself studiously 
in the background, was yet at the very same time filled with 
jealousy of Peter? But, in addition to these weighty con- 
siderations, we point to this supplementary chapter, and ask 
if it be not patent to every one who cares to see it, that John 
has written this narrative with a kind of brotherly pride in 
his fellow-disciple, and with the view of exalting him in the 
estimation of his readers? No doubt there is an implied re- 
proof of Peter's curiosity in the twenty- second verse; but 
why should John, in recording that, be accused of being jeal- 
ous of Peter, any more than Matthew should be blamed for 
the same thing, because he tells that on one occasion the 
Master said to the same disciple, "Get thee behind me, 
Satan." 

The truth is, that John here has supplied us with informa- 
tion without which it would hardly have been possible for us 
to understand how the Peter of the denials became in the 
short space of fifty days the Peter of the Pentecost. The 

* Renan's " Life of Jesus," English people's edition, pp. 15, 16. 



By the Lake of Galilee. 155 

other evangelists, indeed, have given us hints of his repent- 
ance ; but if it had not been for the account which John has 
furnished of his running to the sepulchre, and of his inter- 
view with the risen Lord by the Lake of Galilee, we might 
have been disposed to accuse him of forwardness and pre- 
sumption in taking such a prominent part in the organiza- 
tion of the Church. As it is, however, this commission given 
to him by the Lord is the warrant for his activity on the day 
of Pentecost. 

But to give an intelligent presentation of the subject, we 
must go back to the point at which we closed our last dis- 
course. After Peter's denials our Lord was taken from the 
palace of the high-priest to the hall of Pilate, and thence to 
the house of Herod, who sent him back to the Roman gov- 
ernor, by whom he was given over to crucifixion. At the 
ninth hour of the sixth day of the week the Lord yielded up 
the ghost ; and as the reality of his death was ascertained 
by the spear-thrust of the Roman soldier shortly afterward, 
there was still time before the Sabbath began for a hasty 
funeral. So Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, having 
obtained from Pilate the necessary permission, took the 
body, and, with the assistance of Mary Magdalene and Mary 
the mother of Joses, "wrapped it in linen and laid it in a 
sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock," and which had 
been only recently finished in a garden hard by Calvary. 
In this tomb the body of the Lord Jesus lay all through that 
silent Sabbath. But on the morning of the first day of the 
week, in spite of the sealed stone which had been put at the 
door of the sepulchre, and to the dismay of the soldiers who 
had been set as a watch beside it, he came forth, "having 
burst the bands of death because it was impossible that he 
should be holden of them." At what precise moment he 
arose from the dead we are nowhere informed. We know, 
however, that he did not hurry from the tomb, like as a crim- 



156 Peter, the Apostle. 

inal runs to make his escape from prison ; but that he was 
calm as one rising refreshed from his couch, for the napkin 
that had been bound around his head was found folded with 
care in a place by itself, and the other grave-clothes were 
laid decently by themselves. 

It belongs not to my present purpose to speak of all the 
appearances which the Lord made to his followers after his 
resurrection. We have to do now especially with Peter ; so 
we restrict ourselves to those incidents with which he was 
connected. 

It would seem, then, that when the women who went first 
to the sepulchre on that eventful morning saw that the stone 
was rolled away, Mary Magdalene immediately conjectured 
that something was wrong ; and, without waiting a moment 
to see what had occurred, she ran into the city, and told Pe- 
ter and John. While she was absent on this mission, the 
other women had a vision of angels, and as they were return- 
ing to the city met Jesus himself, who said unto them, "All 
hail !" and gave them a message to his followers. They had 
left the garden before Peter and John had time to reach it, 
and so there was no one there when John came in eager 
haste, followed by the panting Peter. The beloved disciple 
only looked into the sepulchre, but the bold and impulsive 
apostle went in to it at once ; then John followed, and while 
they were there, they saw in a moment what had occurred. 
The faith of the women was so faint that angels were needed 
to confirm it j but already these two apostles were so strong 
in this grace that, even without the assurance of the angelic 
attendants, they believed. 

It has been usual with expositors to remark on the fact 
that John outran Peter on the way to the sepulchre, as if it 
indicated that love is swifter than zeal; but, in truth, there 
was nothing very remarkable in the case, for Peter was con- 
siderably the older man, and it was natural, therefore, that 



By the Lake of Galilee. 157 

he should fall behind. But in his prompt entrance into the 
tomb on the very moment of his arrival at it, there was char- 
acter, and we recognize at once the rapid and decisive move- 
ment of the impulsive man. After their departure from the 
garden, Mary Magdalene returned to it, and had that deeply 
touching interview with the Lord which John has described. 
Then, some time in the course of the day, Jesus met Peter 
alone, and we may suppose that, in that interview, the peni- 
tent disciple was re-assured by the reception of forgiveness 
from his Lord. 

In the afternoon Jesus appeared to the two disciples who 
were going to Emmaus, and in the evening to the company 
of his followers, who, with the exception of Thomas, had as- 
sembled in an upper room. Then, eight days afterward, he 
came again into the midst of them, and convinced Thomas 
that he was indeed risen from the dead. On both of these 
occasions Peter must have been present, but nothing was 
said in either interview which had any special reference to 
him. The Lord waited until he met him again on the mar- 
gin of that lake where first he had called him to the apos- 
tleship, and there, amidst the scenes and memories of the 
past, he gave him, in the presence of his brethren, a fresh 
commission to the pastoral work. 

The apostles had gone to Galilee in obedience to the 
command which Jesus had given them, and there Peter, and 
Thomas, and Nathanael, and James, and John, with two oth- 
ers whose names are not mentioned, were together, when 
Peter proposed to go on a fishing expedition, and the rest 
volunteered to accompany him. They went forth at once ; 
but, though they toiled all night, they caught nothing. At 
length, when the morning broke, they saw One standing on 
the shore, and as they drew near he called to them, "Chil- 
dren, have ye any meat?" They answered him, " No ;" and 
he called again to them, " Cast the net on the right side of 



158 Peter, the Apostle. 

the ship, and ye shall find." The command could not fail 
to remind them of the former occasion when their Master 
had, after a night of. failure, brought to them, by a similar in- 
junction, a signal success ; and there is little doubt that the 
alacrity of their obedience now was due to their remem- 
brance of their experience then. They cast at once, and 
" they were not able to draw the net for the multitude of 
fishes." In a moment the keen intuition of John detected 
the presence of their beloved Lord ; and so soon as he indi- 
cated his belief to Peter, that disciple, with his wonted im- 
petuosity, girded his upper coat about him, and threw him- 
self into the lake, swimming a hundred yards or so in his 
eager haste to be the first to do homage to the Master. 

With greater deliberation, that they might save all the 
fish, the others came in the boat, and after they had counted 
their take, they found — how provided they knew not, and 
we are not informed — a fire of coals, and fish thereon, and 
bread. Then, at the invitation of the Lord, they partook 
with him of a simple meal, well assured that it was he, yet 
feeling too much reverence in his presence to ask any defi- 
nite question upon the subject. 

One can not read this narrative without comparing the 
circumstances with those to which I have already alluded, 
and in connection with which the fishermen of Bethsaida 
were first called to be apostles. On both occasions the mi- 
raculous success was given after a night of disappointment. 
In the former case, there was no record of the fish ; in this 
they were carefully counted. Then the fish were taken into 
the boats on the lake ; now they are drawn at once to the 
shore. There the net was in danger of breaking; here 
there was no sign of any such weakness manifested. After 
the first miracle, they were called to be fishers of men ; after 
the second, they are invited to eat with Christ. 

Now, if it be true, as it undoubtedly is, that the miracles 



By the Lake of Galilee. 159 

of Jesus were symbols as well as wonders, we can not help 
seeing in these two, so similar and yet so distinct, something 
like that which Trench and Wordsworth have indicated. 
We give the condensed summary which the commentary of 
the latter furnishes: "The former miraculous draught rep- 
resents the fishers tossed in the ship of the Church, on the 
sea of this world, and drawing the fish into the net of the 

Church visible This second miraculous draught — that 

after the resurrection — represents her labor done, the fish 
drawn to the land of everlasting life, and the fishers .... 
sitting down to a spiritual banquet with their Lord, on the 
peaceful shore of Life Everlasting, after their own resurrec- 
tion through the resurrection of Christ."* 

After the repast was ended, the Lord addressed to Peter, 
three times over, the searching inquiry, " Lovest thou me ?" 
and three times over received, substantially, the same reply, 
"Thou knowest that I love thee," which on each occasion 
was followed by a command having special reference to his 
future life-work. Now, here so many things call for remark 
that, for the sake both of clearness and of brevity, we shall 
take them in formal order. 

First, you will observe that the Lord in his first inquiry 
gives prominence to Peter's former comparison of himself 
with his brethren. You remember that the overconfident 
disciple said, " Though all men should deny thee, yet will I 
never deny thee ;" and now, after his terrible discovery of 
his own weakness, the Saviour says to him, "Lovest thou 
me more than these ?" The humbled Peter, feeling all that 
the words imply, is careful, in his reply, to say nothing 
about his brethren, and is as far as possible from putting 
himself above them, so that the Lord is satisfied on that 



* Wordsworth's "Commentary on the Greek Testament" on the 
passage. 



160 Peter, the Apostle, 

point, for he does not repeat the painful expression in his 
later questions. 

Second, I ask you to bear in mind that there is a varia- 
tion between the third question addressed by our Lord to 
Peter, and the former two. In our English version, indeed, 
they are apparently identical ; but in the Greek language 
there are two verbs which signify "to love." The one de- 
notes the love of reverence such as is borne toward God by 
the pious man ; the other means more especially the love 
of personal warm human affection, a less exalted thing than 
the former, more intense for the moment, but more liable 
also to grow cold. Now, in his first and second questions 
to Peter, the Saviour employs the word which has the for- 
mer of these two significations ; but Peter, unwilling to as- 
sume the assurance of employing such a term, answers by 
using the verb that speaks of personal endearment. Then, 
on the third occasion, as if to probe the apostle to the very 
quick, the Lord adopts Peter's own word, saying to him virt- 
ually, " Well, taking even thine own term, art thou indeed so 
sure that thou art thus attached to me by personal affection ?" 
In his humility and grief the apostle would not dare to say 
that he loved the Lord with that reverence with which as 
God he ought to be regarded, but he was sure he loved him 
with an ardor similar to, but more intense than, that which 
his heart cherished for his dearest ones on earth ; and then, 
descending to his own level, the Master asked if he were 
indeed convinced that he loved him even in that lower sense. 

I ask you to remember, in the third place, that there are 
similar variations in the words which convey the Saviour's 
charge to Peter. In our version, indeed, we have the one 
word "feed." But in reality there are two different Greek 
words so translated.* The one first used signifies "to pro- 

* The first and third are [3uaKe ; the second, irolftaive. 



By the Lake of Galilee. 161 

vide food for ;" that employed on the second occasion denotes 
"the doing of the office of a shepherd for;" and the third 
is identical with that first employed. So, again, the words de- 
noting " the flock "* are, first, " lambkins ;" second, " sheep ;" 
and, third, " sheeplings ;" and we may translate the three in- 
junctions thus, " Feed my lambkins," " Shepherd my sheep," 
" Feed my sheeplings." Probably Alford gives the best ex- 
planation of these distinctions when he says: "Perhaps the 
feeding of the lambkins was the furnishing of the apostolic 
testimony of the resurrection and facts of the Lord's life on 
earth to the first converts ; the shepherding, or ruling of the 
sheep, the subsequent government of the Church as shown 
in the early part of the Acts ; the feeding of the sheeplings, 
the choicest part of the flock, the furnishing of the now ma- 
turer Church of Christ with the wholesome food of the doc- 
trines contained in his epistles."f It is difficult to give the 
precise shades of difference between the expressions, yet we 
must believe that some such distinction' as Alford has thus 
drawn out was intended to be marked by the employment 
of these several terms. 

In connection with these repeated injunctions, the Lord 
goes on to speak of the manner of Peter's death. Drawing 
a contrast between the vigor of youth and the weakness of 
age, the liberty of freedom and the constraint of imprison- 
ment, he said, with a tone of pathos trembling through his 
words, that a day should come when his servant would 
stretch forth his hand, and another should gird him and car- 
ry him whither he would not. 

Now let us mark the intimate connection between the giv- 
ing of this prediction at this particular time by Jesus, and 
the spirit of humility which Peter had first manifested. On 

* They are dpvia, 7rp6(3ara, and Trpofiaria. 

t Alford's "Greek Testament' 1 ' on the passage. 



io2 Peter, the Apostle. 

the occasion of the disciple's overconfidence when he had 
said, "Though all men should deny thee, yet will I never 
deny thee ; I will lay down my life for thy sake," the Sav- 
iour replied, " The cock shall not crow until thou hast de> 
nied me thrice." But here, when in deep humility he will 
not put himself above the others, and will not even bring 
himself to say that he loves the Lord with that exalted and 
reverential affection which Christ's own word implied, while 
yet he affirms that he did love him in a very true and real 
sense, the Master virtually says to him, " Now thou hast at- 
tained to the martyr spirit : keep that humble disposition al- 
ways, and the day will come when, as thou wantedst so much 
to do, thou wilt follow me even to the cross. Thou couldst 
not understand why I said to thee, ' Whither I go thou canst 
not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterward,' and 
thou saidst somewhat impatiently, ' Why can not I follow thee 
now?' I could not explain it to thee at the time, but thou 
seest the reason now. Thy present temper is that of the 
martyr, and with that self-distrustful spirit and that love to 
me which thou hast just confessed, thou shalt follow me even 
to the cross, and glorify me in death." 

That Peter did thus die for his Lord has been the uniform 
tradition. The story is that he was crucified, and that he 
requested that he should be fastened to the cross with his 
head downward, because he considered that it would be too 
great an honor for him to suffer precisely as the Saviour did. 
But whatever weight may be given to the testimony of tra- 
dition as to the manner of his death, the point of the allusion 
to it here lies in the fact that while his former self-confidence 
made him a coward in the hour of trial, his present humili- 
ty and love would give him such steadfastness that, even 
though his death should be of the most torturing description, 
he should yet glorify God in dying. 

As he heard this prediction regarding himself, Peter 



By the Lake of Galilee. 163 

chanced to see John, the well -beloved, coming up behind 
him, and either from his deep interest in one who had been 
his partner, first in secular business, and afterward in spirit- 
ual labors, or from simple curiosity, or on the mere impulse 
of the moment, he said to Jesus, " Lord, and what shall this 
man do ?" But that was a matter with which he had really 
nothing whatever to do. So the Master answered, " If I will 
that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou 
me." Different interpretations have been given of this re- 
ply. Some take it as an intimation that John should live un- 
til the coming of the Lord, understanding by that coming the 
destruction of Jerusalem. Others, however, believe that the 
words give no indication whatever of the duration of the life 
of the beloved disciple, and regard the whole sentence as hy- 
pothetical, understanding the coming of Christ alluded to as 
his final coming to judgment. With these last we agree, in- 
asmuch as the Evangelist's own comment on the words seems 
to us to be designed to draw special attention to the hypo- 
thetical character of the saying. It was a reproof to Peter, 
put in the strongest form, as if he had replied, " Thou hast 
nothing to do with that : even if it should be my will con- 
cerning him that he should remain upon the earth till I come 
again to judgment, that would be no affair of thine. Thy 
duty, present and perpetual, is to follow me." 

"If you drive nature out with a fork, yet it will come back 
again." That was an old Roman saying, and one can not but 
be reminded of it here. Even at this solemn moment, just 
after his searching examination by the Lord, and when his 
mind had been directed to the time and manner of his own 
death, Peter's temperamental disposition asserts its power, 
and he goes off at a tangent after a matter that did not con- 
cern him at all. We do not think the less of him for it, yet 
we can hardly help smiling at it. And as we read the rec- 
ord we say to ourselves, " That was Peter all over " — ever 



164 Peter, the Apostle. 

blundering without intending it, and almost without know- 
ing it ! Wherever we find him, he is the same big-hearted, 
impulsive, generous, yet awkward and indiscreet man. Re- 
liable in the main, he was very uncertain in minute matters, 
and exceedingly apt to be switched off into some ridiculous 
siding, when he should have kept on the right line of duty 
and devotion to his Lord. Yet with all his blunders we love 
him still ; and we can almost condone his awkwardness when 
we think of the valuable principles which, in the way of ex- 
postulation and reproof, they elicited from his Lord. 

I have gone so fully into this delightful chapter that I 
have left myself but little time for any practical improve- 
ment of the subject; yet I can not conclude without giving 
prominence to three things suggested by the subject as a 
whole. 

Observe, then, in the first place, the wide range of the 
pastoral office. When Jesus called his apostles, he said to 
them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men," and 
his words on that occasion seem to point most especially to 
the bringing of men to him ; but on the occasion before me 
he takes his illustration from the office of a shepherd, and 
thereby reminds us that the true and faithful minister must 
exercise himself as much in the feeding and shepherding of 
those who are already Christians as in laboring for the con- 
version of sinners. This is a point which is apt to be lost 
sight of among us ; for our church arrangements have, I fear, 
been made too exclusively for the bringing of souls to Christ, 
and not enough for the feeding and training of Christians. 
Thus the pastor preaches, the Sabbath-school teacher labors, 
the brethren exhort, and the devout generally pray, that 
souls may be brought into the kingdom. Church member- 
ship is the goal they set before them ; and when those in 
whom they are interested come so far as to make a public 
confession of their faith, that is enough ; they are forthwith 



By the Lake of Galilee. 165 

left to take care of themselves, and the zealous laborers go 
after others. 

Now, no doubt, this ought to be done, but just as surely 
the other ought not to be left undone ; and whenever the 
minister is exclusively a fisherman, and neglects the labor 
of the shepherd, he is only doing half his work. He is like 
a man in a boat who seeks to propel it with one oar, and 
who succeeds only in making it spin round in a ceaseless 
circle. He will make no progress ; and his people will lack 
intelligence. They will be Christians, indeed, but they will 
belong to the invertebrate species, having no backbone, and 
they will be of small account in the conflicts and contro- 
versies of the times. 

The evangelist who passes from place to place may re- 
strict himself to the duties of handing sinners through the 
wicket-gate, and starting them out on their pilgrimage \ but 
the stated pastor must make up to the wayfarers at the sep- 
arate stages of their journey, and give to each the direction 
he requires. He must not neglect to preach to sinners. 
So far from that, he must embrace every opportunity of pro- 
claiming to his perishing fellow-men the good news of salva- 
tion through Christ ; but neither must he neglect to feed the 
lambkins already in the fold, or to shepherd those who have 
already found the Lord. He must rightly divide the word 
of truth, and give to every one his portion of meat in due 
season. Hence, it is unjust in the highest degree to com- 
pare the work of the devoted pastor who is seeking to lead 
out his flock with that of the evangelist. 

I rejoice with my whole heart in the success of those ear- 
nest men who go from city to city holding aloft the cross of 
the Lord Jesus Christ ; but let them settle down as pastors 
for years over the same flocks, and they, too, will have to 
look for the results of their labors in the growth of character 
among their people as much as in the number of conversions. 



1 66 Peter, the Apostle. 

The pastor is to be a teacher as well as an evangelist. He 
has to combine in himself the work of the baptist as a preach- 
er of repentance, with that of the Christian apostle as a 
writer of doctrinal epistles ; and his labor is as needful as a 
supplement to that of the evangelist as that of the evangel- 
ist is as an introduction to his own. 

You can not, therefore, measure the success of a church 
by the number of conversions. No doubt it is highly desir- 
able that there should be many of these ; but there should 
be also the development of Christians in meekness, purity, 
benevolence, liberality, and steadfastness. We must not be 
so occupied in getting the sheep into the fold as to forget to 
feed those who are already in it. 

Observe, in the second place, the true motive for Christian 
work. The Lord did not say to Peter, " Lovest thou the 
work ?" or " Lovest thou my lambs ?" but " Lovest thou me ?" 
for the most potent principle in the Christian heart is love to 
Christ. Yet we are too prone to forget that this is the case, 
and so we dwarf even our best efforts by engaging in them 
from motives which, though good enough in themselves, are 
lower than the highest. 

Some of us work mainly from a sense of duty. Now, I 
will not say a word against that principle. There is much 
in it which is truly laudable ; and many noble men have 
been nerved by it to do good work and true in the Church 
and in the world. But, after all, duty is a cold and stern 
thing when compared with love, and though it may carry 
you through labor without difficulty, yet the work itself will 
not be so noble as it would have been if it had been inspired 
by love. Let any one try it in his own experience, and he 
will understand the difference at once. You see a friend in 
spiritual jeopardy, and you feel you ought to say to him a 
word of warning. Your conscience is alive ; and you go to 
him because you feel you must. But what is the result? 



By the Lake of Galilee. 167 

Either you do the work in a perfunctory manner, so as to 
satisfy conscience with a plausible attention to its require- 
ments, or, wishing to be" very thorough, you overdo it, and 
you wound the heart of your friend by your unfeeling stern- 
ness. Now, suppose you had gone to him from a regard 
to Christ, and with a vivid remembrance of the Lord's own 
gentleness to you, how different it would have been ! The 
very effectiveness of your expostulation would have been in 
its tenderness, and your friend would have embraced you 
even in the moment of your faithfulness. 

Others work from love to their fellow-men, and that also 
is a good principle enough. There is much to be said in its 
favor, and in some cases it may lead to better results than 
those which are produced when one is animated only by a 
sense of duty. But that also is defective. For our fellow- 
men may meet us with ingratitude, and it is hard to continue 
to work for those who do not care to receive our good of- 
fices. Hence, if we have no higher motive than the love of 
our neighbor, we shall very soon become weary in well-do- 
ing, and give up the whole enterprise in disgust. But we 
shall never do that while we are working from love to Christ. 
How he bore with our defiance of him, with our ingratitude 
to him, and with our rejection of his proffered salvation ! 
How he continued to work for us until he led us at length 
to peace and joy in himself! When we think of these 
things we can never despair of another, and we can never 
be reconciled to give up our exertions on his behalf. There 
is no zeal so patient, persevering, persistent, and undying as 
that which is rooted in love to Christ. Hence, if we would 
do the noblest possible work among men, we ought to be 
animated by this lofty principle. Is not the secret of our 
failures in the past to be found in the fact that we have not 
been working from this motive? 

If you would have pressure in the water-pipe, you must 



1 68 Peter, the Apostle. 

bring your water from a lofty reservoir. I remember that, 
on one Lord's day in Liverpool, a fire broke out in the top- 
most story of one of those lofty cotton warehouses that line 
the docks, and when the firemen fastened the hose to the 
hydrants there was not force enough to send the water up 
to the place where the conflagration was ; so the whole was 
burned. Now, something like this is constantly occurring 
in spiritual things. We try to extinguish the flames of sin 
and misery in the world, and we mean right well ; but we 
can not reach by our efforts the seat of the evil, for we are 
not drawing our water from the loftiest reservoir ; there is 
not pressure enough to send it up, and therefore it falls short 
of that at which we aim. 

"Lovest thou me? Feed my lambs." There is the prin- 
ciple. " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least 
of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." There is 
the reward. Oh, who may tell what like that banquet shall 
be on the shores of immortality, when Jesus shall say unto 
his servants, " Blessed are ye who are called to the marriage 
supper of the Lamb ?" 

Finally, observe that difficulties about those things with 
which we have nothing to do ought not to keep us from 
performing the plain duty of following Christ. Beneath 
these words of our Lord to Peter, "What is that to thee? 
Follow thou me," there is a principle that is applicable in 
many circumstances still. There is a clear obligation rest- 
ing upon each of us to strive to enter in at the strait gate, 
and to follow Christ. These things have to be done by us 
if we would be saved ourselves, and it is folly for us to inca- 
pacitate ourselves for that which ought to be the great busi- 
ness of our lives, by allowing our minds to be preoccupied 
with difficulties which we never can solve, and for the exist- 
ence of which we are not responsible. The practical, which 
lies before us, which we can accomplish, and for the accom- 



By the Lake of Galilee. 169 

plishment of which we shall be held responsible — that is 
for us the important thing. The speculative, the unrevealed, 
the insoluble — these belong to God ; and if we would have 
the greatest enjoyment in our lives, and make the best out 
of them for ourselves and others, we shall leave these to 
God, and be content, each one for himself, to work in his lit- 
tle portion of the great pattern of history, ignorant of its 
bearing upon the rest, but believing that, if we follow Christ, 
all will be right at last. When, therefore, I hear friends dis- 
tressing themselves about the entrance of sin into the world, 
or about the mysteries continually recurring in the admin- 
istration of Providence, or about the doctrine of the divine 
purposes, or even about the meaning of unfulfilled prophecy, 
I am disposed to say unto them, What are these things to 
you? Follow Christ. These matters belong to God. He 
has chosen to put them in his own power. You are not re- 
sponsible for them. He will take care of them. Depend 
upon it, the Judge of all the earth will do right. Leave these 
matters, therefore, to him. Walk in the light. Do the work 
which the Lord has plainly set before you. Cultivate the 
Christian character, and give yourselves to the advancement 
of the Gospel of Christ. That is yours — all else is God's. 
These intricate matters will become hopelessly tangled in 
your hands. Let God unwind them in his own time, and he 
will keep them clear. Ah, how much happier we should be 
if we should trouble ourselves less about the government of 
the world, and concern ourselves more about our own per- 
sonal duty ! 

3 



XII. 

PENTECOST. 

Acts ii. 

FROM Galilee the apostles and many of the brethren 
returned to Jerusalem, in the neighborhood of which, 
forty days after his resurrection, they saw the Lord ascend 
from Olivet into heaven. Immediately before he was parted 
from them by the cloud which received him out of their 
sight, " he commanded them that they should not depart 
from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father," and 
assured them that they should be "baptized with the Holy 
Ghost not many days" after. So soon, therefore, as they 
returned to the city, they gave themselves to devotional 
preparation for the great blessing which they were thus ear- 
ly to receive ; and took measures, at the suggestion of Pe- 
ter, to secure the appointment of one who should be num- 
bered with the apostles in the place of Judas. Then on the 
day of Pentecost the expected Spirit came, and the work of 
the Church was inaugurated by a success as signal as that 
which attended the efforts of the fishermen when the Master 
said, "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for 
a draught." 

The name Pentecost, which is simply the Greek word sig- 
nifying fiftieth, was given to this Jewish feast from the mode 
in which its date was fixed. It was to be held forty-nine 
days after the presentation of the first ripe sheaf; and as that 
service was performed on the second day of the Passover, 
Pentecost was just fifty days after the first day of the Pass- 



Pentecost. 171 

over. It was also called the "feast of the harvest" and the 
"feast of the first-fruits," because a part of its ceremonies con- 
sisted in the offering to God of the first-fruits of the crop as 
actually realized and ready for use. This was done by the 
" waving " of two baked loaves ; but in addition to that serv- 
ice, which was performed by the priest for the whole nation, 
each individual worshiper was enjoined to give his personal 
offering of first-fruits,* " a tribute of the free-will offering of 
his hand, which he was to give according as the Lord his 
God had blessed him." Jewish writers say that the par- 
ticular form of confession and thanksgiving prescribed in 
Deuteronomy xxvi., 5-10, and beginning with the words, "A 
Syrian ready to perish was my father," was used on this oc- 
casion. The feast at first lasted only one day, but in the 
later years of Jewish history it was prolonged into several 
days. It was primarily designed to teach the people to ac- 
knowledge the goodness of God in giving the blessing of the 
harvest, and was, in brief, the Thanksgiving-day of ancient 
Israel. 

Two reasons may be assigned for its selection as the date 
for the first great manifestation of the power of the Holy 
Spirit in the Christian Church. One is connected with the 
typical character of the feast itself. In its reference to the 
Christian life, the services of Pentecost suggest to us the 
duty of presenting ourselves as redeemed and regenerated 
to God. They say to us, " Ye are not your own," and they 
exhort us to make our bodies " living sacrifices, holy and ac- 
ceptable to God, which is our reasonable service." On the 
day of the Passover, Christ, by the sacrifice of himself, ush- 
ered in the harvest of the world. On the day of Pentecost, 
the Spirit descended, turning the fruits of grace into the 
bread of life, received and fed upon by the souls of men, and 

* Deut. xvi., 10. 



172 Peter, the Apostle. 

leading them to offer themselves unto God according as 
James has said, " Of his own will begat he us with the word 
of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creat- 
ures." 

The second reason for the selection of Pentecost for the 
descent of the Spirit is to be found in the number of Jews 
from all quarters of the world who attended that feast. The 
city was filled with strangers who had come to take part in 
the popular festival of the Mosaic year • and so, through the 
conversion of many of them to Christ, the seed of the Gos- 
pel was introduced at once to many lands, in which it grew 
up and brought forth abundant fruit. 

In the early morning, the whole number of the disciples, 
amounting, as we learn from the preceding chapter, to one 
hundred and twenty, had assembled, in all likelihood as on 
the previous days, for prayer in one place. Some have sup- 
posed that they met in one of the chambers connected with 
the Temple j but besides the fact that this is not even hinted 
at in the narrative, it is in itself immensely improbable ; for 
the chief priests and scribes must have had still within them 
that enmity to the Gospel which showed itself in the cruci- 
fixion of the Lord, and we can not believe that they would 
permit his followers thus statedly to come together within 
the sacred precinct. It is, therefore, in my judgment, much 
more likely that they met in the upper room, already dear 
to them from its association with the Last Supper, and with 
their first meetings with the risen Lord. But, however that 
question may be settled, we are informed by the historian 
that, while they were together, there came a sudden sound as 
of a tempest, which filled the house where they were sitting ; 
and along with that sign to the ear there was another to the 
eye, in the appearance of fire parted into separate tongue- 
like flames, each of which sat upon the head of one of the 
disciples. Amidst these external manifestations, there was 



Pentecost. 173 

communicated to each the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that he 
was lifted up into a loftier spiritual condition, in which his 
perception was clearer, his emotional nature more active, 
and his whole experience so exalted, that it found utterance 
for itself in a tongue which up till that moment had been 
strange to him. 

The loud sound as of a tempest was heard through all 
the city, and created such a ferment as would be produced 
to-night on this island by some immense explosion. As a 
consequence, a multitude soon assembled round the house 
to which the peculiar phenomenon had been traced. But 
as the crowd stood round, a still greater marvel was per- 
ceived ; for as the disciples within continued to praise God 
for his wonderful works, each one of the foreign spectators 
heard some one of the speakers use his own vernacular. 
"And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to an- 
other, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans, and 
how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were 
born ?" 

Much has been written regarding this miracle, and many 
different opinions have been entertained concerning it, but we 
can not give any thing like an exhaustive treatment to the sub- 
ject here. The following things, however, seem to be clear : 

1. It was a special gift to the disciples, enabling them to 
do something which up till that time had been to them im- 
possible. So much is apparent on the very surface of the 
record ; and we wonder how any interpreters could imagine 
that the effect wrought by the Spirit was produced by mira- 
cle on the ears of the hearers rather than on the tongues of 
the speakers. If this had really been the case, then the 
proper name for the Divine blessing would have been " the 
gift of ears " rather than " the gift of tongues," and the sym- 
bolical fire would have rested on the multitude rather than 
on the disciples. 



174 Peter, the Apostle. 

2. The effect of the miracle was that the disciples spoke 
intelligibly in certain known and recognizable languages. 
We can not tell whether they were endowed with a knowl- 
edge, for the time, of so much of these languages as they re- 
quired for the employment of them in the praise of God, or 
whether the Holy Spirit used their vocal organs simply as 
the vehicles for the utterances which he himself was making. 
It is more in harmony with his general procedure in the in- 
spiration of his servants, however, to suppose that he em- 
ployed their intellects as well as their tongues, using them 
thus dynamically rather than mechanically. But, however 
that may have been, the result was that they spoke, not in 
unintelligible sounds or in an unknown tongue, but in dia- 
lects used at home by the different foreign Jews who were 
at the moment hearing them. This is clear from the confes- 
sion made by the multitude, " We do hear them speak in our 
tongues the wonderful works of God." And I scarcely think 
that any other idea would have been derived from the words 
of Luke, had it not been for the fact that many expositors 
have allowed their minds to be confused by the opinion that 
the phenomena of Pentecost were identical with those de- 
scribed by Paul in the fourteenth chapter of Corinthians, and 
which there he calls a "speaking with tongues." 

Now, it is beyond all doubt that there were certain 
points of similarity between the two, suggesting the common 
origin of both ; but it is equally plain that some things at 
Pentecost were quite different from those described by Paul 
among the Corinthians ; and it may contribute to clearness 
in our understanding of the subject if we pause a moment to 
indicate the things in which they were similar, and those in 
which they were distinct. I can not do this better than it 
has been done by Lechler, in his commentary on this book.* 

* In Lange's " Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical Commentary." 



Pentecost. 175 

"(1) It was in both cases an extraordinary influence and 
gift of the Holy Spirit. (2) On both occasions the Spirit of 
God took possession of the soul of the speaker with great 
power, insomuch that the free action of the will, and the 
self-consciousness of the (individual) at last receded ; a men- 
tal state ensued so strange and mysterious in its character as 
to produce on the minds of some spectators the impression, 
corresponding to their general views, that they beheld a case 
of drunkenness, while others regarded it as a case of mad- 
ness. (3) In both instances this speaking with tongues (y\wo- 
aaig \a\e~iv) did not result in a didactic discourse, but was 
the language of devotion, in which the praise and honor of 
God were proclaimed. On the other hand, each case exhib- 
its distinctive features of its own: (1) The speaking of the 
disciples (Acts iv.) was intelligible, and was consequently 
understood by the hearers without the assistance of others ; 
whereas the Corinthian speaking with tongues could not possi- 
bly be understood without the aid of an interpreter. (2) The 
speaking described in Acts was clearly a speaking in for- 
eign languages, whereas not a single distinct and unequiv- 
ocal expression in 1 Corinthians xiv. intimates that such 
was the case." We conclude, then, that while the two things 
were generically the same in their origin, they were specific- 
ally different in their manifestations, and that here the pres- 
ence of the Spirit was indicated by the speaking, on the part 
of the disciples, of certain foreign tongues, so that, without 
the aid of an interpreter, their language was intelligible to 
those to whom these tongues were vernacular. 

Thus one of the earliest effects of the work of Christ was 
to counteract the evil of the confusion of tongues, which 
came as the punishment of human pride ; and it may be, 
too, that in the company who in that upper room were prais- 
ing God for his wonderful works in many different tongues, 
we have an anticipation and prophecy of the white -robed 



176 Peter, the Apostle. 

throng, " a great multitude whom no man could number, of 
all nations, and kindred, and people, and tongues," whom 
John saw standing before the throne, and whom he heard 
crying with a loud voice, and saying, " Salvation to our God, 
which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb." 

3. The narrative here does not furnish us with sufficient 
data on which to form an opinion whether this speaking in 
foreign tongues was a permanent endowment, or a mere tem- 
porary thing. The common idea is that the first apostles 
were miraculously gifted with a knowledge of languages, so 
that, when they went to foreign lands, they did not require to 
spend a long while in acquiring the vernacular. But there 
is nothing here, or in the rest of Luke's history, that makes it 
certain that such was the case. We know that Greek was 
so widely understood at that time throughout the world that 
one familiar with that language could easily make himself in- 
telligible anywhere ; and it is nowhere said in the account, 
for example, of Paul's missionary journeys that he spake to 
his hearers in their native tongue. On one occasion, indeed, 
it would seem that his ignorance of the local dialect prevent- 
ed him from taking as prompt measures as he otherwise 
would have done to keep the men of Lystra from offering 
sacrifice to him and Barnabas ;* and, on the other hand, it 
does appear that in his intercourse with the inhabitants of 
Malta he evinced a familiarity with their speech,! which 
suggests that he had a special and peculiar endowment 
in that department. On the whole, therefore, we have not 
here, or indeed anywhere else in Scripture, sufficient grounds 
for dogmatically asserting either that the gift of tongues 
was or was not a permanent endowment of the primitive 
Church. 

As the multitude listened to the strange sounds, and gazed 



* Acts xiv., 13-18. t Ibid, xxiii., 1-10. 



Pentecost. 177 

upon the singular spectacle, different opinions were express- 
ed regarding them. Some, recognizing their own language, 
cried, " What meaneth this ?" Others, not hearing, perhaps, 
their own mother-tongues, and deafened by what must have 
seemed to them an unmeaning babblement, cried, " These 
men are full of new wine." 

And now, the miracle having served its purpose in arous- 
ing attention, or, as John Foster has very admirably put it, 
" the miracle having rung the great bell of the universe," 
and thus gathered together an eagerly inquisitive multitude, 
Peter stood forth to vindicate his brethren, and to proclaim 
the truth as it is in Jesus. He began by affirming that it 
was impossible that intemperance could account for the 
things which they had seen and heard, since, as they knew, 
it was only nine o'clock in the forenoon, and it was the cus- 
tom of their countrymen neither to eat nor drink before the 
hour of morning sacrifice. And, having thus disposed of the 
sneer of the mockers, he went on to answer the inquiries 
of the serious and well-disposed. 

He alleged that all that they had witnessed was the be- 
ginning of the fulfillment of a prediction made by Joel, 
which they had often heard in their synagogues, and with 
which, therefore, they were perfectly familiar. He did not 
say, indeed, that Joel's words were so completely fulfilled by 
the events of Pentecost that we may not look for any fur- 
ther verification of them. All he affirmed was, that this was 
an installment of that promise which God, by the mouth of 
Joel, had made, and that it was the result of the pouring-out 
by Jehovah of his Holy Spirit upon them. Then he pro- 
ceeded to connect the bestowment of that gift at that par- 
ticular time with the resurrection and ascension of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Sketching the character and career of his 
Master with a bold and manly eloquence, he reminded his 
hearers that they had crucified and slain him, and then he 

8* 



178 Peter, the Apostle. 

startled them with the assertion that he had risen from the 
dead. 

Seeing the amazement which that statement produced, he 
fortified it by a reference to a prophecy which they all ad- 
mitted to be Messianic, because, though it came from the 
pen of David, it could have no reference to David's own his- 
tory. The passage which he quoted is taken from the six- 
teenth Psalm, and the pith of it is in these words : " Because 
thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, neither wilt thou suffer 
thine Holy One to see corruption ;" and it is interesting to 
mark how Peter expounded it, and raised a doctrinal infer- 
ence from an historical fact. He said, David died and saw 
corruption, for his sepulchre is with us unto this day ; there- 
fore he could not here be speaking of himself: but, being a 
prophet, and foreseeing that Messiah should sit upon his 
throne, he spake in this wise of his death and resurrection. 
This prediction, therefore, was verified in Jesus of Nazareth, 
for we are witnesses of his rising from the dead ; and be- 
cause he has now ascended into heaven, he hath shed forth 
this which ye do see and hear. 

Nor, he continued, let it seem strange to you that I speak 
of his ascension ; for that, too, is the fulfillment of a predic- 
tion in another Psalm,* in which David said, " The Lord said 
unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand." The Psalmist 
could not mean himself in this prophecy any more than in 
the former, for he is not ascended into the heavens. It re- 
mains, therefore, that he was referring to the Messiah ; and 
so, as Jesus of Nazareth has been raised from the grave, and 
has been exalted by the right hand of God, it follows that he 
whom ye crucified is both Lord and Christ. 

The effect of all this was overwhelming. They discov- 
ered that he whom they had so cruelly put to death was 

* Psa. ex., 1. 



Pentecost. 179 

alive again, and that he was, in very deed, the deliverer to- 
ward whom their eyes by all the prophets had been turned. 
Therefore they were cut to the heart, and cried, saying, "Men 
and brethren, what shall we do ?" and in response, Peter 
preached to them the Gospel, bidding them repent and be 
converted, and exhorting them to make themselves publicly 
the disciples of Christ by receiving baptism in his name. 
He had wounded only that he might heal ; for he proclaim- 
ed that the promise was unto them, and to their children, 
and to all that were afar off, even as many as the Lord their 
God should call ; and the result was that three thousand 
were added that day to the Church. Nor was it a mere 
ephemeral epidemic. The converts continued steadfast, and 
proved, by their love, their liberality, their fervor, their forti- 
tude, and their fidelity, that they had indeed been born again. 
In reviewing this discourse, one can not but be struck 
with the marvelous progress made by Peter in Christian 
knowledge in the brief space of fifty days. What a differ- 
ence between his utterances now and those which he made 
before the Master's death ! How is all this to be explained? 
Much of it is to be traced, of course, to the influence of those 
instructions in the things pertaining to his kingdom which 
were given by our Lord to his apostles at intervals during 
the forty days which elapsed between his resurrection and 
ascension into heaven. But more of it was due to the en- 
lightening agency of the Holy Spirit, by whom he had just 
been filled. The Lord promised that the Comforter would 
bring all things to their remembrance, whatsoever he had 
said unto them ; that he should teach them all things; that 
he should guide them into all truth, adding to all the rest 
these precious words, " He shall glorify me : for he shall re- 
ceive of mine, and shall show it unto you."* And in the 

* John xiv., 26; xv., 26 ; xvi., 13, 14. 



180 Peter, the Apostle. 

discourse of Peter upon this occasion we have a beautiful 
instance of the manner in which that blessed agent com- 
monly proceeds in the enlightenment of men. You observe 
that, under his inspiration, Peter is led to the Old Testament 
Scriptures, and that he sees in the sections to which he re- 
fers more than he ever saw before. These passages, so far 
as Peter was concerned, had been always there, but now he 
understands them in a new light ; and in the same way the 
Spirit leads him to a correct interpretation of the facts in 
the Saviour's history which had occurred before his own 
eyes. 

Now, so it always is. The Spirit guides into the truth, 
not by putting new things into the Word, but by bringing out 
more fully those which are already there ; and in propor- 
tion as we grow in the intelligent apprehension of the reve- 
lations thus made to us, we shall increase in Christian cour- 
age and steadfastness. Thus, while the effusion of the Holy 
Spirit sufficiently explains the transformation which we see 
in Peter here, that transformation itself requires some such 
supernatural cause to account for it ; and so the history is 
perfectly consistent and entirely credible when we take it 
as a whole; while, if we follow the example of some ration- 
alistic interpreters, and endeavor to abstract from it every 
thing that is miraculous, it will entirely vanish under our 
hands, and leave the early existence of the Church an un- 
solved and insoluble enigma. 

But leaving the mere interpretation of the chapter, let us 
see what light it throws on that subject, which is occupying 
so much the thoughts and prayers of God's people among us 
at this hour. We have here the history of the first Christian 
revival. Let us trace it through, and mark at once its origin 
and its characteristics. 

In the first place, it was ushered in by prayer. There is 
nothing said, indeed, in the opening verses of this chapter 



Pentecost. 181 

of united supplication. But in the preceding context we 
read, that after the ascension the disciples, to the number 
of one hundred and twenty, met in the upper room, and con- 
tinued in prayer and supplication ; and it is reasonable to 
suppose that when they came together on the day of Pente- 
cost, they had the same exercise in view. Now, what did 
they pray for? We are not told in so many words, but, as 
the latest injunction given them by Jesus had reference to 
the promise of the Holy Spirit, we conclude that they prayed 
for him. It might seem, indeed, that just because he had 
been promised, they did not need to pray for him. But 
they did not reason after that fashion. When a father prom- 
ises a gift to his child, he gets many a reminder, and night 
after night as he returns from business he is met with the 
eager inquiry, " Papa, have you brought it yet ?" So, like 
true children of God, these first disciples waited and prayed, 
asking evermore, that they might receive the Holy Ghost 
according to his word. And herein they rebuke us dread- 
fully, for in our petitions do we not far too largely neglect 
the Holy Ghost? We do not deny his personality or re- 
pudiate his agency, but we ignore him, and we pray that 
men may be converted, and that Christians may be edi- 
fied, forgetting to go behind these effects to him through 
whom alone they can be produced. Let us honor the Holy 
Spirit more, and then we may expect a fresh baptism from 
above. 

But we see here, again, that the revival began in the 
Church in the quickening and enlightening of those who 
were already disciples. The one hundred and twenty were 
first blessed, and through them the thousands were convert- 
ed. Now, this is to be the course yet. When we cry for 
revival, we think too largely of other people. We dwell in 
imagination upon the unconverted, and supplicate that they 
may be brought in crowds to Jesus ; but we forget that they 



1 82 Peter, the Apostle. 

are to be brought through our being first filled with the Holy 
Ghost ourselves. The purging of the Church with searching 
fire is to be the precursor of any great revival in the world. 
In the case before us, the attention of outsiders was attract- 
ed by the fact that the disciples spake with foreign tongues, 
and so made themselves intelligible in many languages ; but 
to-day there is one way of testifying to Christ which is inde- 
pendent of all languages, and is the same in all lands : that 
is, by character and life ; and when the eyes of men every- 
where are turned with admiration upon Christians for the 
holiness of their conduct, the love of their fellowship, and 
the liberality of their benevolence then will be a glorious 
opportunity for some new Peter to stand forth, and, tracing 
all these effects to Christ as their cause, preach the truth in 
him with such power that multitudes shall be born in a day. 
To have the world converted, we must have the Church puri- 
fied and ennobled, through the enjoyment of a rich effusion 
of the Holy Ghost. 

Further, the revival here was characterized by the preach- 
ing of the truth. Peter stood forth and testified for Christ. 
In all probability he said a great deal more than has been 
preserved here ; but even in this outline we have much 
to arrest our attention. His discourse was Biblical. He 
brought the Bible to the front, and by its simple exposition 
he proved that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah. 
Nowadays we have a great deal said in the. pulpit that 
might be just as appropriate in the hall of the lyceum, or in 
the class-room of the professor of philosophy. But Peter be- 
gan and ended with the Word of God ; and when our minis- 
ters will give over apologizing for the Bible, or criticising it, 
and will let it simply speak for itself, then we, too, may look 
for a new day of Pentecost. What mean the crowds that 
everywhere throng to hear those evangelists whom God has 
so signally honored ? They are the proof, if men only care 



Pentecost. 183 

to be convinced, that no book is so interesting to the com- 
mon people as the Word of God, and that no magnet is so 
potent in its attraction as the cross. Let us put God's word 
foremost, and revival will not be long in coming. 

Again, Peter's sermon was experimental. It was a testi- 
mony. He could and did say " whereof we are witnesses," 
and so his words had in them that attribute of eloquence 
which the French preacher has called so happily " the ac- 
cent of conviction." Men saw and felt that he himself be- 
lieved what he was saying, and therefore they were inclined 
to believe it themselves. In proportion as the minister 
of the Gospel merges himself into a witness, he will suc- 
ceed in turning men to Christ. True, that will not afford 
much room for the display of self, but it will give ample op- 
portunity for displaying Christ; and he has said, "I, if I be 
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." 

But still more, this sermon of Peter's was pointed and 
courageous. He did not flinch from giving his view of 
the career of Jesus of Nazareth ; neither did he go about 
to find soft words for the sin which he charged home to 
the consciences of his hearers, but he said right out, " Him 
ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and 
slain;" "that same Jesus whom ye crucified is both Lord 
and Christ." Can this be, indeed, the voice of Peter ? 
Did he not quail before the maid-servant, and say, "I never 
knew the man ;" and now does he speak after such an un- 
compromising fashion? What has come over him? The 
explanation is easy. On the former occasion he was full 
of self; now he is filled with the Holy Ghost. So he calls 
things by their right names, and strikes both home and 
hard. Let our preachers speak thus to men's consciences, 
and they, too, shall have many inquirers crying, "What 
shall we do ?" 

For, to mention only one thing more, this revival was 



184 Peter, the Apostle. 

characterized by many conversions. First, there came con- 
viction of sin ; then, inquiry ; then, after Peter had given 
them direction, there came faith, repentance, and confession 
of Christ before men, and all these so rapidly that three 
thousand were converted ere the evening closed around 
them. Nor was this a mere temporary thing. They who 
thus gave themselves to Christ continued steadfast, and 
adorned their profession by a walk and conversation becom- 
ing the Gospel. "Will it last? Will it last?" That is the in- 
quiry made by antagonists when they hear of a great reviv- 
al and many conversions. Let them read the closing verses 
of this chapter, and they will see that wherever the Spirit is 
really operating, his work is permanent. The suddenness 
of a conversion is no discredit to it, else we should have to 
suspect such cases as that of the Apostle Paul, and Colonel 
Gardiner, and ten thousand others. But the way to send 
back those who profess to have been thus suddenly trans- 
lated from darkness into light, is for other Christians to treat 
them to cold shoulder, and put them into quarantine, until 
it is seen whether or not they shall endure. Was that the 
manner in which Christ met us ? It were better for us far 
to make a few mistakes in receiving such as are not quite 
genuine, than to injure some timid, seeking soul, and mar 
his usefulness for life. Therefore let us not look coldly 
and indifferently on when God is working in the midst of 
us j but let us rejoice that Christ is preached, and let us 
open our hearts to all who profess to be his disciples. 



XIII. 

THE LAME MAN HEALED. 

Acts iii. 

WHEN the bud begins to burst, and to expand into 
the flower, it does not all at once slough off the ex- 
ternal casing by which it had been bound. Gradually, as 
the leaves and petals unfold themselves, they bend back 
their former covering until at length it seems a mere excres- 
cence, and of itself drops off like a withered thing. 

Now, as the Christian Church was a development out of 
the Jewish, we find a similar process in its early history. It 
did not assume all at once a separate and independent ex- 
istence. Its first members had their own meetings, indeed, 
in each other's houses and in upper rooms ; but with these 
they combined a regular attendance upon the Temple serv- 
ices. They differed from other Jews in the fact that they 
believed in the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth, and were 
knit to each other in the bonds of a brotherhood which had 
its origin in a common experience of the great salvation ; 
but they kept up also a strict observance of the Mosaic law. 
Very probably they had at this time no clear idea of the 
shape which their movement was finally to take; and per- 
haps the thought of separation from the Jewish Church had 
never entered into their minds. God was leading them by 
a way which they knew not ; and, as we follow the steps of 
the apostle of the circumcision, we shall find that even he 
was prepared, little by little, for the acceptance of the truth 



i86 Peter, the Apostle. 

that Christ by his work had abrogated the entire ritual of 
their nation, and introduced a system of worship which, be- 
cause it was spiritual, was to be universal. 

Luther was at work as a spiritual reformer long before he 
felt himself impelled to come out of the Church of Rome ; 
and though the organization which Wesley formed tended 
inevitably to separation from the Church of England, that 
venerable evangelist, to the very end of his days, repudiated 
the very idea of leaving that communion. With such exam- 
ples before us, therefore, we can not be surprised that the 
first Christians continued to frequent the Temple of Jerusa- 
lem at the hour of prayer. 

Prominent among them on all such occasions were Peter 
and John. Since the day on which Jesus had sent them to 
engage the upper room for the celebration of his last pass- 
over with his disciples, these two apostles seem to have been 
almost inseparable companions. They had been together 
in the high -priest's house; they had vied with each other 
who should be the first to reach the sepulchre; they had 
been close beside each other in the boat on the lake when 
the Lord beckoned to them from the shore ; and it was 
Peter's eager interest in the welfare of his friend that drew 
upon him the reproof, "What is that to thee? follow thou 
me." 

Brought up at first in the same town, and following there 
for years the same occupation as partners, they were already 
fast and familiar friends before Jesus called them ; but now 
their relation to each other had been elevated, refined, and 
strengthened by their constant intercourse with each other 
as fellow-disciples ; and in the white-heat of the fiery trials 
of the crucifixion time their hearts had been fused together, 
so that they were of one mind and soul. 

Theirs was emphatically a holy friendship, and it would 
be well if in our choice of companions we could secure such 



The Lame Man Healed. 187 

reciprocity and counterbalance as Peter had in John, and 
John in Peter. They were in many things most unlike each 
other, but that made them only the more valuable to each 
other ; since the defects of the one were supplemented by 
the excellencies of the other. The impulsiveness of Peter 
was checked by the caution of John ; while occasionally, as 
at the sepulchre, the hesitation of John was put to flight be- 
fore the bold decisiveness of Peter. They were to each oth- 
er very much what Luther and Melanchthon were in a later 
age. John had the eagle eye ; Peter had the ardent soul. 
John could thunder, too, on occasion, for the Lord called 
him and James, Boanerges ; but his general demeanor was 
calm and still. Peter was active, impetuous, and frequently 
abrupt. John's character was the deeper and the more in- 
tense ; Peter's the more energetic and demonstrative. John 
resembled a clear deep river, giving you the idea of peace, 
as it mirrors on its bosom the calm repose of the unclouded 
sky. Peter resembled a river churning on in full flood, 
broken now and then by a rocky fall, but giving you withal 
the idea of tremendous power as it sweeps every obstacle 
before it. John was intuitional and meditative ; Peter was 
observational and practical. John was the Mary among the 
apostles ; Peter was the Martha. They were both noble 
men. Their union would have made an almost faultless 
character ; and next to that, for influence on the world 
around them, was their intimate and endearing friendship. 

As these two companions were entering the Temple one 
afternoon by the gate called Beautiful, they were accosted 
by a beggar who was privileged to have a seat there because 
he had been lame from his birth. Indeed, it would almost 
seem, from the force of the original word, that his friends 
were in the act of carrying him to his accustomed place at 
the very moment when the apostles were passing, and that 
he had only time to make application to them for help be- 



1 88 Peter, the Apostle. 

fore they should enter the sacred .precinct. In response to 
his entreaty, Peter said, " Look on us ;" and he immediate- 
ly raised to them an expectant eye, supposing that he was 
about to receive, as indeed he was, some very unusual and 
precious gift. But how must his hopes for a moment have 
sunk within him when he heard the words, " Silver and gold 
have I none !" I could almost fancy how at first he might 
be tempted to say, " That's a poor joke. You might surely 
find something better to do than to make fun of an impo- 
tent man like me." But when he heard the rest of the sen- 
tence, " In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk," 
and when he saw the apostle advance to take him by the 
hand, his heart thrilled with a peculiar anticipation. He 
said within himself, This can not be a mockery, and, grasp- 
ing the hand of Peter, he swung himself to his feet, and felt 
a strange, tingling life run prickling along his nerves as his 
limbs grew firm beneath him. Then, half walking and half 
leaping, like one yet unaccustomed to the exercise of loco- 
motion, he went into the Temple to praise the Lord for his 
goodness. 

Now, as it is said by objectors, with truth, that no miracles 
can be so easily counterfeited as cures, it may be well to set 
clearly before you the circumstances of this case, that you 
may be able to answer every gainsayer regarding it. The 
man on whom it was wrought was well known. He was 
over forty years of age, and for a long time, as seems to be 
implied in the words of the historian, he was regularly to be 
seen at the Temple gate. His disease was not a slight ail- 
ment of recent origin, but was brought with him into the 
world. His cure was performed not in secret, and before 
a chosen conclave of spectators, but in open day, and in a 
place as much frequented at the hour of evening prayer as 
Broadway is in the height of business. The case was in- 
quired into at the time by those who were openly opposed 



The Lame Man Healed. 189 

to the cause with which the apostles were identified ; yet 
even they were compelled to admit the genuineness of the 
work of healing, and had no argument wherewith to oppose 
the disciples, but that of the prison. Now, if an event so 
authenticated is to be accounted false, how shall we be cer- 
tain of any thing which history has recorded ? 

But this was a miracle ; and men are suspicious of that 
word. Some, in the ranks of philosophy, maintain that such 
a work is impossible, because it is inconsistent with the uni- 
formity of nature, which the achievements of science have 
so amply demonstrated ; and others, in the ranks of theolo- 
gy, have cast off the miracles as evidences of the Gospel al- 
together, believing them to be only hinderances to faith, and 
imagining that the Gospel can stand without their support. 
Let me, therefore, pause here for a few moments, and see 
whether I may not wipe away this double reproach from the 
miracles of the New Testament. 

By a miracle, then, I understand a work out of the usual 
sequence of secondary causes and effects, and produced by 
the direct agency of God. It is of its very essence that it 
shall be a particular departure from that uniformity which is 
the general characteristic of what we call nature. But it is 
not, except in a very limited sense, a suspension of a law of 
nature ; and it is unfortunate that such an expression should 
ever have been employed in its definition. When I lift any 
thing, say, for example, this book, I do for the time being, 
and in the case of the book, suspend the law of gravitation ; 
but I do so only by the introduction of a higher cause, name- 
ly, my will, acting through my muscular nature, and even 
while I do so the law of gravitation remains the principle 
on which the material universe is conducted. 

A suspension of any law, throughout the universe, even 
for the briefest time, would issue in the most disastrous re- 
sults ; but a miracle is not such a suspension. It is the 



1 90 Peter, the Apostle. 

production of a new effect by the intervention of a new and 
sufficient cause, which is the agency of God ; and which 
brings about not the suspension of any law, but only a 
deviation, in a single instance, from the ordinary course of 
things. There need, therefore, be no jealousy on the part 
of scientific men against a miracle, for it would be impossi- 
ble to recognize a miracle at all, if there were not in nature 
that very uniformity for which they contend. There could 
be no exceptional deviations, if there were no uniformity ; 
and so, it is as essential to the advocates of the supernatu- 
ral as it is to the disciples of science to contend for the reg- 
ularity and constancy of the operations of nature. 

Then, as to the possibility of a miracle : if we accept the 
personal existence of God, there can be no difficulty felt 
upon that point ; for if we admit that the operations of nat- 
ure are carried on by a person in a certain uniform way, we 
can not hesitate to admit, also, that he may, if he so choose, 
deviate from that uniformity in a certain instance, for any 
purpose which he accounts sufficient. Thus the real mat- 
ter at issue is not the possibility of miracle, or the truth of 
Christianity — it is the existence and personality of God. The 
question raised is that between atheism and faith in God, 
and that must be settled on other grounds than those of rev- 
elation ; for the one grand postulate of the Bible is God. If 
one accepts that, he will not stumble at miracles. If one 
does not admit that, we must begin to reason with him a long 
way farther back than miracles. 

But some theologians, following the leadership of Cole- 
ridge, say, " The Gospel can stand without the miracles ; 
therefore let them go ; we have evidences enough without 
them." 

Now, to this I reply, that the Gospel can not stand without 
the miracles ; for, be they true or false, the narratives of these 
supernatural works are so inwrought into the whole fabric of 



The Lame Man Healed. 191 

the record that you can not cut them out without destroying 
it. Nay, more, the moral character of the Saviour must be 
sullied if we repudiate his miracles, for he laid claim to the 
possession of supernatural power. Nor is this all. Every 
reader of the fifteenth chapter of Paul's first letter to the 
Corinthians must see how much depends on the fact that Je- 
sus Christ rose again from the dead ; but that resurrection 
was a miracle. So, too, every student of John's Gospel must 
observe the importance with which that evangelist has in- 
vested the fact that the Word, who was God, became flesh, 
and dwelt among us ; but the incarnation was a miracle. 
Now, if you give up the fact of the incarnation, and allege 
that Christ never rose from the grave, how much of the Gos- 
pel will remain ? You see, therefore, how absurd it is to say 
that the Gospel can stand without the miracles. They who 
speak after that fashion are talking either thoughtlessly or 
treasonably, for we can not surrender the miracles without 
giving up every thing which we have heretofore associated 
with Christ, and repudiating the Bible itself as a revelation 
from God. 

" But," some one says, " allowing all that to be true, you 
need not insist so strongly on the miracles as evidences: 
surely the internal are better than the external. Let the 
Gospel be its own witness. If its doctrines be true, they 
will attest themselves. Nothing can be truer than truth." 

Now, to this I reply that though it be the case that one 
truth can not make another true, yet some things may be 
more apparent than others, and one fact may help to make 
another clearer. What is the use of evidence else ? Take, 
for example, the case of a prisoner in a court of law. Either 
he is innocent or guilty from the first. Yet evidence is had, 
but that evidence does not make him either the one or the 
other; it only makes manifest which he is. So, again, in 
mathematics ; every proposition in Euclid is true, altogeth- 



192 Peter, the Apostle. 

er independently of its demonstration. The demonstration 
only makes the truth apparent. Similarly the Gospel is true 
and of Divine authority altogether independently of the mir- 
acles wrought by Christ and his apostles ; yet these miracles 
being performed in the plane of ordinary life, and in a de- 
partment with which men are familiar, make evident the 
truth of those statements which the Gospel contains regard- 
ing things which belong to a region beyond the sphere of 
our observation or the possibility of our investigation. When 
Jesus said to the paralytic,* " Son, thy sins be forgiven thee," 
he made an assertion the verification of which was impossible 
by his hearers, for it referred to a region beyond their reach. 
So they said, "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies ? 
Who can forgive sins but God only." As if they had replied, 
" It is a safe thing to make a claim like that, because you 
know we can not investigate its truth." But the Lord, know- 
ing how they felt, makes a reply which, as Trench has par- 
aphrased it, amounts to this: "You accuse me that I am 
claiming a safe power, since in the very nature of the benefit 
bestowed no sign follows, nothing to testify whether I have 
challenged it rightfully or not. I will therefore put myself 
now to a more decisive proof. I will speak a word. I will 
claim a power which, if I claim falsely, I shall be convinced 
upon the instant to be an impostor and deceiver. I will say 
to this sick man, ' Rise up and walk.' By the effects as they 
follow, or do not follow, you may judge whether I have a 
right to say to him, 'Thy sins be forgiven thee.' By doing 
that which is submitted to the eyes of men, I will attest my 
right and power to do that which in its very nature lies out 
of the region of proof."f 

Now, what that one miracle of the healing of the paralytic 
was to the one claim of Christ, in connection with which it 

* Mark ii., 5-1 1. t " Notes on the Miracles," pp. 205, 206. 



The Lame Man Healed. 193 

was wrought, that the miracles of the New Testament, as a 
whole, are to the Gospel, as a whole. The doctrines of the 
Gospel refer to supernatural things in that spiritual depart- 
ment which is beyond the limit of our observation ; the mir- 
acles are supernatural facts in the province of nature and of 
daily life, which is open to our investigation, and so the per- 
formance of them by him who utters the doctrines is a con- 
firmation or attestation of their truth. Both are true. The 
doctrines are true altogether independently of the miracles ; 
and the miracles are true altogether independently of the 
doctrines ; but the truth of the miracles makes that of the 
doctrines more evident, and for that reason miracles were 
employed at the inauguration of the Gospel. 

In the Palazzo Rospigliosi, at Rome, Guido's famous 
painting of Aurora is on the ceiling, and the visitor can not 
therefore examine it without much discomfort and great dis- 
advantage j so a mirror has been placed in the room at such 
an angle as to catch the reflection of the picture and present 
it to the spectator at a point where he can conveniently in- 
spect it. So the spiritual declarations of the Gospel are far 
above us, and we can not verify them ; but in the miracles 
they are reflected in material facts as in a mirror, and these 
we can investigate. Thus the supernatural in the one at- 
tests the supernatural in the other. 

I have dwert thus at length on this subject because the 
miracle of Peter has afforded me a convenient opportunity 
for meeting the plausible objections of modern philosophers, 
and for exposing the hollowness and absurdity of the reason- 
ings of many theologians on a question which seems to me 
to be of vital importance. But we must pass on now to con- 
sider briefly the address delivered by the apostle in connec- 
tion with this miracle. 

The report of the cure of the lame man spread with mar- 
velous rapidity among the worshipers in the Temple, and 

9 



194 Peter, the Apostle. 

when they saw the grateful beggar, clinging in his gladness 
to Peter and John, they crowded round them and followed 
them to Solomon's Porch. This was one of a series of pi- 
azzas which were built on the inside of the outer walls of 
the Temple. On the eastern, northern, and western sides, 
there were two rows of these porches, and on the southern, 
three. They were about twenty feet in width, and paved 
with marble of different colors ; they had flat roofs of costly 
cedar wood, supported by marble pillars ; and they afforded 
a grateful shade to the people. The porch on the eastern 
side was distinguished for its beauty, and, standing as it did 
on the vast wall which Solomon had raised from the valley 
beneath, and which was the only thing of his work that re- 
mained in the second Temple, it was called after his name. 

When Peter saw the throng, and marked the expression 
of amazement mingled with inquiry which was upon the 
countenances of the people, he spoke to them as he had 
clone to the multitudes on Pentecost. His address on this 
occasion was characterized by the same qualities as his for- 
mer discourse, and whether we consider its honesty, boldness, 
and simplicity, or its full presentation of the way of life, and 
its comprehensive brevity, we must place it on a level with 
the utterances of Paul, and second only to the loftier and 
more suggestive sayings of the Lord himself. 

He begins by alleging that there was in reality no ground 
for the astonishment which they felt. It would have been, 
indeed, a wonderful thing if John and himself had cured the 
lame man by their own skill, or as a reward for their own 
piety. But as it was, there was nothing to marvel at, for the 
miracle had been wrought by Jesus Christ, whom God had 
raised up and glorified after he had been denied and deliv- 
ered up to Pilate, and killed by them. He was indeed the 
Holy One and the Just, the Prince of Life, the servant of 
Jehovah, and yet the Son of God ; and so it was only natural, 



The Lame Man Healed. 195 

and what in the circumstances was to be expected, that the 
faith which was by him should give this perfect soundness 
to the lame man. No doubt that made their position very 
serious indeed ; for this miracle demonstrated that he whom 
they had put to death was now alive, and at the right hand 
of God, as the Prince of Life ; yet, though they and their 
rulers had rejected him, they need not despair, as though 
there were no possibility of salvation for them. God had 
been, through these things, only fulfilling his own gracious 
purposes ; and if they changed their minds regarding the 
Messiah, and turned from their opposition to him, so as to 
become his servants, their sins would be blotted out, and 
they would enjoy times of refreshing from the presence of 
the Lord. The grandest era of the Jewish nation was not 
in the past, but in the future, and it was contingent on their 
repentance and conversion ; for when they had all turned 
unto the Lord he would send Jesus Christ a second time to 
them. But meanwhile, until the fulfillment of all the proph- 
ecies which God had spoken by his servants since the begin- 
ning, he must remain in heaven. Still, they must not despise 
him on account of his absence, for he was the prophet of 
whom Moses spake, and whom he described as like unto 
himself, saying also, " It shall come to pass that every soul 
which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from 
among the people." On the one hand, therefore, they had 
to fear the most dreadful punishment if they rejected Jesus; 
and, on the other, if they received him as their prophet, they 
might expect the fulfillment of the promise which God made 
to Abraham when he said, " In thy seed shall all the kindreds 
of the earth be blessed," for unto them first, God having 
raised up his Son Jesus, had sent him to bless them in turn- 
ing away every one of them from his iniquities. 

Every separate verse of this address might furnish matter 
for a sermon ; but I content myself with having set before 



196 Peter, the Apostle. 

you thus the relation of its several parts to each other, and 
the design which the apostle had in view. But he was not 
permitted to dwell at any greater length upon the subjects 
on which he touched, for the Jewish authorities, unwilling 
that the people should be taught by any but themselves, laid 
hold of him and John, and, as the easiest way of getting rid 
of them for the moment, put them in prison until the next 
day. There, therefore, we must meantime leave them, while 
we gather up a few of the more valuable lessons which this 
chapter of early Church history suggests. 

We are reminded, in the first place, that there are some 
things more valuable than money. The end is always of 
more importance than the means by which it is gained ; and 
if it can be attained without the use of these means at all, 
then they become, comparatively speaking, of little moment. 
Now, the value of money is not intrinsic. It arises simply 
from the fact that it furnishes a ready medium of exchange. 
Silver and gold thus are worth only what they can purchase ; 
but there are certain things which they can not buy, and 
to which, therefore, they are, and always must be, inferior. 
Health is a boon which no pecuniary price can purchase. 
Happiness is a commodity which can not be bought even 
with the wealth of a millionaire. Acceptance with God is a 
blessing which untold gold can not secure. And, as we see 
from the record here, Peter with his gift of healing was of 
infinitely greater service to this lame man than if he had 
possessed the riches of Crcesus. Let the wealthy among us, 
therefore, see that they keep their treasures in the proper 
place. The moment wealth becomes an end to be sought 
simply for its own sake, it ceases to be a blessing. Its 
employment in that wise beneficence which helps the poor 
to help themselves will promote the happiness of all who 
are assisted by it, and their enjoyment will come back to the 
giver of it with a richer interest than the usury of earth, 



The Lame Man Healed. 197 

causing him to say, "It rs more blessed to give than to re- 
ceive." 

But, on the other hand, let not those of us who are poor 
in this world's goods imagine that we are thereby quite pre- 
vented from doing good to others. Behold what a blessing 
Peter, though he had neither silver nor gold, bestowed on 
this beggar ! There are other ways of helping our fellow- 
men than by giving them money ; and, God be praised for 
it, there are continually occurring, even in our lanes and al- 
leys, our cellars and our attics, cases of kindness done by 
the poor to the poor that show like redeeming features in 
our fallen nature, and sound like variations in that " still, sad 
music of humanity " which rings so ceaselessly in the ear of 
the thoughtful observer. Ye that have money, therefore, use it 
for God's glory in the world's good ; and ye who have to make 
the confession of Peter, and say, " Silver and gold have I none," 
give of what you have ; so shall you catch the spirit of these 
first apostles, and, like their Master, "go about doing good." 

We are reminded, secondly, that fidelity is the true kind- 
ness in the end. Mark how pointedly Peter here addresses 
the multitude. He charges home upon them, in unmistaka- 
ble terms, the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, 
" Ye delivered him up ;" " Ye denied him in the presence of 
Pilate;" "Ye desired a murderer to be granted unto you;" 
"Ye killed the Prince of Life." Yet he was not indiscrimi- 
nate in his censure, for he says, " I know that through igno- 
rance ye did it." 

Now, in all this he was a model for us. Faithfulness is to 
be tempered with justice in all things, but especially when 
we are dealing with the unconverted. We must speak plain- 
ly, yet we must speak kindly, and let those with whom we are 
conversing feel that, while we can not but condemn their 
course, we thoroughly understand their procedure, and have 
the tenderest compassion for themselves. 



Peter, the Apostle. 



It is delightful to see how, after the strong things which 
he had uttered about their guilt, Peter comes round at last 
to tell them of the mercy and the love of God, and to invite 
even the murderers of the Messiah to receive a blessing 
from the hands of him whom they had crucified ; and it 
would be well if all who feel prompted to speak to men 
about their sins would study well the method which the 
apostle pursued. Impertinence is not faithfulness. There 
is a right as well as a wrong way of approaching every man ; 
and if we wish to succeed with him, we must study him until 
we have discovered how he is to be treated. Many earnest 
disciples, with the best possible intentions, have disgusted 
those to whom they have spoken, and sent them farther 
away from Christ and his salvation than they ever were 
before. Behold how it was here. The good deed done to 
the impotent man drew the people's attention ; then, when 
they were impressed by that manifestation of the divine 
beneficence, the apostle spoke to them of their guilt ; and 
after he had impressed that deeply upon their hearts, he 
addressed to them his appeal to repentance, and declared 
that God was waiting to be gracious unto them. 

Now, let us follow a similar plan. We can not work a 
miracle, indeed, but we can do a kindness that shall make 
as wholesome an impression as this work of healing did ; 
and then, when we have thus secured the confidence of those 
whom we have benefited, the way is open for our speaking 
to them of their guilt. By pursuing that plan, we shall, by 
the help of God, succeed in bringing many to Jesus. But 
let us not make up to one who is a perfect stranger to us 
on the street, and say to him, " Do you know, sir, that you 
are going to hell ?" That is an insult ; and it will be well if, 
when we are guilty of such folly, we meet with a man who will 
say to us, as a Christian did to a youth who had so addressed 
him, " My young friend, you mean well, and if I did not know 



The Lame Man Healed. 199 

that, I should be very angry at you. For many years I have 
been trying to serve the Master whom you love, and you had 
no right to speak to me in that fashion. You will do more 
harm than good if you prosecute your missionary work after 
the fashion of a highwayman, and call upon every man you 
meet to stand and deliver up his soul, under your threaten- 
ing of hell. He that winneth souls is wise." Be faithful, 
then, but be tenderly faithful. Do not perform the work of 
the shepherd in the spirit of the wolf. 

Finally, let us remember that the enjoyment of times of re- 
freshing from God's presence is inseparably connected with 
our return to God. The literal rendering of the nineteenth 
verse is this : " Repent and be converted, that your sins may 
be blotted out, in order that times of refreshing may come 
from the presence of the Lord." And I can not but think 
that Peter here, addressing Jews, was guided to the use of 
words which, while they are true in the experience of indi- 
vidual converts, shall have their highest fulfillment in that 
day when "all Israel shall be saved." The grandest era of 
the Jewish nation is not in the past, but in the future, and 
the coming of that era is dependent upon their repentance 
and conversion. 

But while that may be the primary reference of his words, 
the principle underneath them is susceptible of the widest 
application. If a soul wants refreshment, let it turn to the 
Lord, changing its mind in regard to Jesus and its conduct 
before men j let it become one with God in Christ, and then, 

" Sweet as home to pilgrim weary, 
Light to newly opened eyes, 
Flowing streams in desert dreary, 
Is the rest the cross supplies." 

Does a church want revival, then let its members put away 
from them every thing that is offensive to God ; let them re- 
turn to walk in his ways, and to wait on his ordinances, and 



200 Peter, the Apostle. 

times of refreshing will surely come. Do we wish revival in 
our city and in our land ; then we must begin by preaching 
repentance. John the Baptist yet must be the precursor 
of the Christ. So let us raise the cry " Repent ! repent !" 
for the greatest blessing God can confer upon us, a bless- 
ing carrying every other boon of a spiritual sort within it, is 
" when he turns us away from our iniquities." There is the 
whole difficulty. You can not have both the refreshing and 
the iniquities. Now, which will you give up for the other ? 
There is much prayer for revival now — God grant that it be 
sincere! — but if you pray for revival with iniquity still en- 
shrined in your hearts, your supplication is a mockery, and 
will be answered with judgment rather than with blessing. 
Let us have a revival of repentance, and the times of re- 
freshing will be at the door. 



XIV. 

BEFORE THE COUNCIL. 

Acts iv. 

THE first antagonists of the apostles were of two 
classes. The one was composed of the priests who 
were then engaged in the Temple, headed by the Levitical 
official whose special function it was to prevent disturbances 
in the sacred precincts. Their motive in seeking to silence 
the new preachers was personal ; for, belonging, as they did, 
to a separate body, whose members had peculiar privileges, 
they were naturally jealous of the rise of others to influence 
and importance. They wanted to keep the instruction of 
the people in their own hands, and so they availed them- 
selves of the slight confusion which was created by the com- 
ing together of so great a crowd, as a pretext for laying hold 
of Peter and John, and putting them into prison. 

Nor has this spirit been peculiar to these earliest antago- 
nists of the Gospel. Wherever the ministers of religion ac- 
count themselves priests, there similar intolerance is cher- 
ished and, if possible, enforced. In those countries where 
Popery is the religion of the State, no spiritual instruction is 
allowed to be communicated to the people, save under the 
oversight of the priests ; and even in lands where religious 
equality is the law, you will find that the notion is industri- 
ously circulated among the people, that, in consequence of 
their office, the words of the priests have a certain power 
and virtue to which those of others can lay no claim. Priest- 
hood, wherever you find it, means spiritual monopoly; and by 

9* 



202 Peter, the Apostle. 

whomsoever it is claimed, whether by papal priest, or An- 
glican clergyman, or Presbyterian minister, or Congregation- 
al pastor, it is alike unscriptural and intolerant. 

It is right and proper, of course, that there should be of- 
fice-bearers in the Church ; but their appointment to office 
does not give them the warrant to forbid any one from using 
without the Church the gifts which God has given him ; nor 
does it give to things done by them, or words uttered by 
them, a character which they would not possess equally if 
done or said by an unofficial member. Let us testify against 
this arrogant and offensive spirit when it is manifested by 
others, and let us strive against it in ourselves. Let us cul- 
tivate the disposition of Moses, who, when Joshua ran to re- 
quest that he would forbid Eldad and Medad to prophesy 
in the camp, said, "Would God that all the Lord's people 
were prophets !" Let us imitate the example of Paul, who, 
though some preached Christ of contention, supposing to add 
affliction to his bonds, rejoiced therein. Above all, let u% 
drink in the spirit of our Divine Master, who, when his dis- 
ciples told him that they had forbidden one to work mira- 
cles in his name, because he followed not with them, replied, 
" Forbid him not ; for there is no man which shall do a 
miracle in my name that can lightly speak evil ofme."* 

The other class of antagonists to the first preachers of 
the Gospel was formed of Sadducees, who were moved not 
so much by personal as by doctrinal considerations. They 
were the radical party in the Jewish nation, as opposed to 
the Pharisees, who were the conservative. The Pharisees 
were jealous for all the restrictions of the law of Moses, in 
order that they might the better keep the nation isolated 
from surrounding countries. The Sadducees, on the other 
hand, wished to enter into fuller fellowship with their neigh- 

* Numb, xi., 29 ; Phil, i., 15-18 ; Mark ix., 39. 



Before the Council. 203 

bors, and therefore they desired to break down as much as 
possible those barriers of religious ceremony and belief 
which stood in the way of the attainment of their desires. 
Thus their political position influenced their religious creed, 
and they pared down and explained away the distinctive 
tenets of the Jewish faith until they had reached the level 
of utter naturalism. They were the Broad school of the 
Jewish Church. Their creed consisted in negations rather 
than in affirmations. It would be easier to tell what they 
did not believe than to say what they really received. As 
we learn from another passage of the New Testament, they 
denied the existence of angel or spirit. They repudiated, 
also, as it would seem by necessary inference from the fact 
just mentioned, the doctrine of immortality ; and that of the 
resurrection of the body was their special aversion. Now, 
as Peter put in the very forefront of his defense the asser- 
tion that Jesus Christ was risen from the dead, they were 
stirred into antagonism, and joined in the attempt to coerce 
the apostles into silence. 

It has often been alleged by the advocates of infidelity 
that they are the most tolerant of men. It has been af- 
firmed, also, that while every religious sect in turn has been 
guilty of persecution, infidelity has never through its adher- 
ents attempted to interfere with any one for the maintenance 
or diffusion of his religious faith. But in the conduct of 
those Sadducees who endeavored to gag Peter we see that 
even they who boast of the widest liberalism may be guilty 
of the greatest intolerance. The origin of persecution is in 
the human heart ; and only when that is changed by the 
power of the Holy Spirit through the word of the truth as it 
is in Jesus, may we hope to see intolerance disappear, and 
true charity take its place. 

In the prison the apostles remained for the night ; and 
on the morrow they were formally arraigned before the 



204 Peter, the Apostle. 

Council. This was a body composed of twenty-four priests, 
twenty-four elders of the people, and an equal number of 
scribes and lawyers. It met in a hall called Gazith, sup- 
posed by some to have been situated in the south-east cor- 
ner of one of the courts near the Temple building. It sat 
every day from the termination of morning sacrifice till the 
evening sacrifice, save on the Sabbath and the festival days. 
The president occupied an elevated seat : on his right hand 
was the vice-president, and on his left the referee \ while the 
members, seated on low cushions, with their knees bent and 
crossed in the Oriental fashion, were arranged according to 
their learning and age in a semicircle, so that they could all 
see each other, and all of them be seen by the president and 
vice-president. 

Before this august assembly, then, Peter and John were 
placed, and the question was put to them, " By what power, 
or by what name, have ye done this?" a question, be it ob- 
served, which admitted that a miracle had been performed, 
and inquired only what its significance was. 

In answer, Peter begins courteously, yet with a quiet irony 
almost akin to humor, saying, " Since it is so, that we stand 
at your bar, not as malefactors, but for the good deed done 
to the impotent man, and you desire to know how he was 
made whole, be it known unto you all, and to all the house 
of Israel, that by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom ye 
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him cloth 
this man stand here before you whole." Then, according to 
his custom, and guided by that Spirit by whom he was filled, 
he fortifies his statement by a reference to the Jewish Script- 
ures, quoting a passage which had been similarly employed 
by the Lord himself, and implying that it had been verified 
in his case, "This is the stone which was set at naught of 
you builders, which is become the head of the corner;" and, 
rising from the particular instance before him, and with his 



Before the Council. 205 

heart all aglow with the fervor of a lofty enthusiasm, he gave 
utterance to one of those sentences which every great crisis 
in the world's history strikes out of some one of God's apos- 
tles, and which, becoming the watch-words of the army of 
progress, are in themselves " half-battles." He said, " Neither 
is there salvation in any other ; for there is none other name 
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." 

These pointed words produced a deep impression on the 
minds of the members of the Council, and so turned the ta- 
bles upon them, that, though they occupied the position of 
judges, they felt that they were themselves put upon their 
defense. They could not deny that a real miracle had been 
wrought ; neither could they gainsay the accusations which 
Peter brought against them ; and so, reminded, by the words 
and bearing of the prisoners, of Jesus and his trial, with its 
terrible teimination, they thought the prudent course would be 
to hush the matter up in the quietest possible way. Hence, 
after a little private consultation, they put on a stern front, 
and commanded them never to teach again in the name of 
Jesus. But their admonition was to no purpose ; for the 
more they threatened, the bolder and more resolute did their 
antagonists become. Nay, more, they expressed their deter- 
mination to disobey the injunction which they had received, 
and that in such language that their very judges were put to 
silence, for they said, " Whether it be right in the sight of 
God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye ; 
for we can not but speak the things which we have seen and 
heard." 

Thus the two plain unlettered men set them at defiance ; 
and the members of the Council, finding that they could do 
nothing with them, dismissed them from the assembly. 

Immediately on their release, Peter and John betook them- 
selves to their brethren, and together with them poured out 
their earnest prayer that God would sustain them in the ar- 



2o6 Peter, the Apostle. 

duous work on which they had entered, and, delivering them 
from the fear of men, would enable them boldly to proclaim 
the truth as it is in Jesus. Nor did they need to tarry long 
for an answer ; for while they were yet speaking, Jehovah 
heard them, and, amidst visible tokens of the divine majesty, 
they received a fresh baptism of the Holy Ghost, and came 
out of this, their first tribulation, more devoted than ever to 
the Lord Jesus, and more determined than ever to preach 
his Gospel. 

Such, in brief, is the substance of this section of apostolic 
history. Let us see what practical inferences we may draw 
from it appropriate to ourselves. 

In the first place, we may learn that if we are really Christ's 
disciples we may expect to encounter antagonism. Jesus 
had said to his followers, " In the world ye shall have tribu- 
lation," and Peter and John were now beginning to experi- 
ence what he meant. In our day, and in our land, it is hap- 
pily all but impossible for one to be put into prison or con- 
demned to death on account of his religious belief; but it 
would be a mistake to suppose that the Christian has no op- 
position of any sort to fear. The world being as it is, one 
can not be earnest in carrying out religious principle in any 
department of society without provoking some sort of ani- 
mosity. It may take the form of a sneer or a taunt ; or that 
of dismissal from some situation ; or that of the perpetration 
of a series of practical annoyances, each in itself too paltry 
to be important, but all of them when combined sufficient to 
constitute a heavy burden. But in some form or other it 
will come ; for Christ's words are as true to-day as they were 
when he first uttered them, and we have reason to stand in 
doubt of our earnestness in the spiritual life, if we know 
nothing whatever of the world's antagonism. We have no 
need, indeed, to go out of our way for opposition, or to do 
any thing on purpose to provoke animosity. That would be 



Before the Council. 207 

both foolish and unchristian. But when, in our ordinary 
course of serving Christ, we are opposed by those who hate 
him, let us be thankful for an opportunity of standing up for 
principle, and let us accept it as an evidence that our dis- 
cipleship is genuine. 

But we may infer, in the second place, that if we are really 
Christ's disciples, there will be something about us that will 
remind the world of him. The priests and rulers as they 
listened to Peter's words, and looked upon his dauntless de- 
meanor, " took knowledge of him that he had been with Je- 
sus." The inner springs of character may be hidden, but the 
life will make evident of what sort they are. "As a man 
thinketh in his heart, so is he." 

No doubt there is such a thing as hypocrisy, which con- 
sists in a discrepancy between so much of the conduct as 
is seen and the real disposition. But the possibility of that 
arises from the fact that no man can see the entire conduct 
of another. If we could observe all the actions of a man in 
all circumstances, it would not be possible for him to impose 
upon us by making himself pass for what he is not. There 
are no hypocrites before God. Hence, the occurrence of 
cases in which we have been deceived by outward appear- 
ances does not invalidate the position that from a man's 
conduct, generally speaking, you may tell his character. 
Whatever is in him will come out sooner or later ; and if 
Christ be in him, he too will appear in well-defined char- 
acteristics. Not, of course, that the Chistian will study to 
attract men's attention by his peculiarities, for the beauty 
of Christ -likeness is its unconsciousness of itself. Peter 
and John here were as far as possible from seeking to 
thrust themselves on the notice of the Council. They were 
trying simply to serve their Lord ; yet in seeking to do that 
they so acted as to bring prominently before the minds of 
their judges the fact that they had been with Jesus. 



208 Peter, the Apostle. 

And it is interesting to observe what those qualities were 
that specially produced such an effect. They were their 
"boldness," and "want of learning." Mark, not their bold- 
ness alone, but that taken in connection with the fact that 
they belonged to the common order of the people, and were 
destitute of all rabbinical learning. It may at first seem 
strange that boldness should have reminded these councilors 
of Jesus, for that is not a quality which we usually associate 
with Christ. Had it been written, "When they saw their 
humility, or benevolence, or calmness, or meekness, they took 
knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus," we 
should have thought it more natural. But when we take 
their boldness along with the fact that they were unlearned 
men, all difficulty disappears, for that combination presented 
to the rulers the same puzzle which they had seen in Jesus. 

Here were two plain men, of no education, and only a 
short while before laboring as fishermen; yet disregarding 
all worldly considerations, and standing undauntedly in their 
presence testifying to Christ. They could neither bribe 
them, nor threaten them into silence. There was no princi- 
ple in their natures to which they could make such appeals. 
There was no handle by which they could take hold of them. 
They knew not what to do with them. They presented to 
them the same insoluble enigma as Jesus had done, when, 
in heroic silence, and with unruffled calmness, he had stood 
at the bar of Caiaphas and Pilate, and had endured at length 
the agonies of crucifixion. This, then — the incomprehen- 
sibility of the men — it was that reminded them of Christ. 
They could not understand the motives by which they were 
actuated. They were perplexed by the self-possession and 
the utter unworldliness which they manifested. They had 
seen many men act from love of money, or of fame, or of 
pleasure, but here was a new and unintelligible thing to 
them. They had seen nothing like it, save in Jesus Christ, 



Before the Council. 209 

and so they "took knowledge of them that they had been 
with him." 

But it is always so. The Christian is a mystery to other 
men. In their view, his conscientiousness is crotchetiness; 
his disregard of worldly gains, when they are inconsistent 
with rectitude, is foolish squeamishness ; his earnestness is 
fanaticism ; his piety is weakness. They marvel at him. 
This has been the case in all the Christian centuries ; it is 
the case to-day. Find me a man whose whole life-work is 
a devoted service of the Lord Jesus, and I will show you in 
him a man who is a puzzle to all the unconverted round him. 

Now, is there any thing of this about us ? Have we al- 
ways acted so as to render it impossible for worldly men to 
explain our conduct on any other supposition than that we 
are Christians? Are our aims too high for them to see — 
our motives too exalted for them to comprehend — our stand- 
ard too elevated for them to reach? Then may we take 
comfort in all that as an evidence that we are like the Lord, 
But if they see only too plainly that our principles are iden- 
tical with theirs ; if they behold in us the same regard for 
worldly considerations, the same fawning on the wealthy in 
the expectation of receiving something at their hands ; the 
same fear to be true to conviction, lest profit should be lost ; 
the same paltry littlenesses of every kind that they are con- 
scious of in themselves, then it is to be feared that we have 
never been with Jesus, and never learned of him that " man 
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that pro- 
ceedeth out of the mouth of God." 

We may infer, in the third place, that if we are really 
Christ's disciples, the one rule of our lives will be to hearken 
unto God. What noble words are these, "Whether it be 
right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than 
unto God, judge ye !" " Right in the sight of God " — that 
is ever what the Christian seeks to do. As in the natural 



210 Peter, the Apostle. 

world the one great principle of gravitation pervades the 
universe, so that amidst multiform variety there is still unity 
of operation, so in the Christian life the all-regulating prin- 
ciple is obedience to God springing out of love to the Lord 
Jesus Christ. In little things as in great ; in secular things 
as in those which are called sacred ; in private matters as in 
public ; in politics as in religion, his rule is to do that which 
is " right in the sight of God." His conscience takes the law 
from God, and, no matter what will come, he will act upon 
its dictates. 

See how this was exemplified in the life of the Christian 
soldier, Henry Havelock, who, though he was at length the 
savior of the British empire in India, was for a weary while 
only a lieutenant. He writes thus to a friend in regard to 
his prospects: "Let me ask what it is you mean by prej- 
udices against me? Tell me plainly. I am not aware of 
any. Old and others used to tell me that it was be- 
lieved at the Horse-guards and in other quarters that I pro- 
fessed to fear God as well as to honor the Queen ; and that 
Lord Hill and others had made up their minds that a man 
could not be at once a saint and a soldier. Now, I dare 
say such great authorities must be right, notwithstanding the 
example of Colonel Gardiner, and Cromwell, and Gustavus 
Adolphus ; but if so, all I can say is, that their bit of red 
ribbon was very ill bestowed on me ; for I humbly trust that 
in that great matter I should not change my opinions and 
practices though it rained Garters and coronets as the re- 
ward of apostasy." The man who wrote these words had 
been with Jesus, and was already a hero — long before the 
victory of Lucknow. 

Do not, however, misunderstand me here, so far as to sup- 
pose that a Christian should never be found working in any 
matter with a man of the world. On the contrary, there are 
many occasions when the line of duty for him will lie along 



Before the Council. 211 

that which worldly men are taking ; but then he follows it, 
not because they are on it, but because he believes that it 
is " right in God's sight " for him to take it. And when the 
two roads part, it is clearly seen who his Master is. If you 
were to observe him only when he is going along- side of 
some godless men, you might, perhaps, for a moment stand 
in doubt concerning him ; but when you mark his course 
from first to last, you discover that when he joins the uncon- 
verted it is not to conform to them, and when he leaves them 
it is not from love of singularity, but that in both cases he is 
doing what he believes to be right. Here, then, ought to be 
our rule — to do the right. The right, not the profitable ; the 
right, not the pleasant j the right, not the fashionable ; the 
right, not that which leads to earthly honor. And to know 
what is right we must betake ourselves, not to any human 
statute-book, but to the divine law — for the Christian rule is, 
to do that which is right in the sight of God. 

Brethren, are we prepared to act according to this law? 
Merchant, art thou willing to do what is right in the sight 
of God, even though heaps of gain may be set before thee 
to seduce thee from thine integrity ? Statesman, wilt thou 
take this noble stand, though place and power may beckon 
thee to leave the high ground of patriotism and duty ? Work- 
man, wilt thou be true to this holy law, though the tyranny 
of thy fellows should seek to overwhelm thee with destruc- 
tion ? Employer, wilt thou seek always to keep by this stand- 
ard, though capital and cabal may strive to push thee to the 
wall ? Minister of Christ, wilt thou obey this divine maxim, 
though popularity and fame wait not upon thy faithfulness? 
Are not these the questions which the events of every day 
are putting in ever- new forms to every one of us? Oh, 
brethren ! how are we answering them ? God send to us 
the holy boldness and determined thoroughness of Peter, 
that we say to every adversary, " Whether it be right in the 



Peter, the Apostle. 



sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge 
ye." 

We may infer, in the fourth place, that if we are really 
Christ's disciples, our chosen fellowship will be with those 
who are already his. We read that, " Being let go, they 
went unto their own company." There had been an ex- 
ternal pressure put upon them which had kept them from 
following the bent of their inclination, but the moment they 
were free to act upon their own impulse they went to the 
brethren with whom they were associated. Now, it is simi- 
lar with men yet. There are times when, though we may 
not be actual prisoners, we are kept by the force of polite- 
ness, or the demands of business, from those with whom we 
would otherwise be found ; but so soon as that pressure is 
withdrawn, we betake ourselves to the friends in whose fel- 
lowship our greatest happiness is enjoyed. There is thus a 
kind of elasticity in our nature, such that it stretches to a 
certain extent under the influences to which at the moment 
we are exposed ; but when these are removed, it goes back 
to its original condition. 

Hence we are furnished with two tests, by the use of which 
we may discover our true character. When is it, let us ask, 
that we feel ourselves under constraint? Is it when through 
necessary business we find ourselves associated with men 
who have no regard for Christ ? I can conceive that, in the 
prosecution of his proper calling, a Christian may find him- 
self in most uncongenial society ; and that, though he will 
leave it as soon as possible, he may not find it possible to 
leave it as soon as he wishes. But all the while he is un- 
comfortable. He is not in his element. He longs to be 
away, and, like the bird in the cage, which, so soon as the 
door is open, leaps out to seek its own familiar grove, he 
hastens to the company of his believing friends the mo- 
ment that he can break away. Now, if we know any thing 



Before the Council. 213 

of such an experience as that, we may take it as an evi- 
dence that we are Christ's. 

On the other hand, if the constraint be felt by us when we 
are in Christian society ; if we feel obliged to go to God's 
house, it may be even to God's table, simply to keep up ap- 
pearances, but feeling all the time that we would rather be 
elsewhere ; if, because we have become involved in a Chris- 
tian family, we are entangled into going with its members 
to the prayer-meeting, or into joining with them in evening 
worship ; if all through the religious services we appear to 
be devout, while inwardly we are voting them a bore ; and 
if as we leave the house we feel that we are indeed " let go," 
and have within us some such emotion as the prisoner has 
when he hears the heavy jail -doors shut behind him, and 
finds himself again a free man, then we may be thoroughly 
sure that we are none of Christ's. 

It is only another side of this same thought when I add 
that we have here a valuable test in the questions, "What is 
our own company ? With what sort of people do we find our 
highest enjoyment?" The proverb says that "a man is 
known by the company he keeps;" and if you, a Christian 
professor, have for your peculiar and innermost friends men 
who are utterly regardless of all spiritual things, then you 
have reason, not only to suspect that you are wrong, but also 
to believe that you are still in the gall of bitterness and the 
bond of iniquity. " What communion hath light with dark- 
ness ? What fellowship hath Christ with Belial ?" Remem- 
ber that you are only what you are in your deepest and in- 
nermost nature ; and if your religion be merely a surface 
thing, while the entire under-current of your being is going 
in the opposite direction, you are simply an irreligious man. 
You can not be really a follower of Jesus, and find your 
highest satisfaction in the fellowship of those who despise 
him. 



214 Peter, the Apostle. 

On the other hand, if your highest pleasure is in the 
companionship of Christian brethren ; if, when you are worn 
and weary with contending with sin within you and with sin 
around you, there is still for you a solace in the fellowship 
of believers ; if your deepest happiness has been in Chris- 
tian ordinances, Christian friendship, and Christian work; 
if the company to whom you belong be men of God, " full 
of the Holy Ghost and of faith ;" if your experience of their 
communion be that given in the poet's words : 

" As birds of social feather helping each 
His fellow's flight, we soared into the skies, 
And cast the clouds beneath our feet, and earth 
With all her tardy, leaden-footed cares, 
And talked the speech, and eat the food of heaven — "* 

then you have a striking evidence that you belong to Jesus 
himself, and a strong assurance that your home at last will 
be with him and his redeemed. 

Finally, we may infer that if we are really Christ's, we 
shall betake ourselves in every time of trial to the throne of 
grace. When the apostles had reported to their brethren 
the troubles into which they had been brought, and the 
threatening which had been pronounced against them, they 
lifted up their hearts with one accord in supplication to God. 
The prayer which they offered is remarkable for its Script- 
ural allusiveness, its homely directness, its recognition of 
God's hand in every thing, and its comprehensive brevity. 
Scarcely was it finished, when the place was shaken as on 
Pentecost, and they were all anew baptized with the Holy 
Ghost, so "that they spake the word of God with boldness." 

Now, here again we are furnished with a test whereby 
we may discover our real character. To whom do we go in 
time of perplexity ? Some repair to fellow- men; but they 

* Pollok. 



Before the Council. 215 

can give no effectual help in our deepest extremities, for they 
are simply on a level with ourselves. Others have recourse 
to poisonous drugs, such as opium, alcohol, and the like, 
that they may steep themselves in insensibility, and so forget 
their affliction. But that only aggravates the evil by bring- 
ing a terrible reaction at the last. All such expedients are 
really beneath us. But the Christian looks up. When he 
is in perplexity, he prays to be led to " the rock that is high- 
er than he." He believes that precious word of promise, 
"When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, 
and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, 
I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open riv- 
ers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys : 
I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land 
springs of water,"* and he looks for its fulfillment in his 
time of need. Nor does he look in vain ; for answers to 
prayer are not confined to this book. The life of every 
saint is full of them ; and he is daily encouraged to tell the 
Lord "all that is in his heart." But if we never call upon 
God in supplication, if our troubles only drive us farther 
from him, if in our secret souls we cherish the desire to be 
independent of him, then it is clear that we are none of his. 
God has no dumb children in his spiritual family; and if 
no voice of praise proceeds from our lips, and no word of 
prayer is sent up from our hearts, then are we "bastards, 
and not sons." 

A prayerless heart, a prayerless home, a prayerless life ! 
Brethren, there are no darker things on this earth than these ; 
and they who have these things are depriving themselves of 
the richest solace which humanity can enjoy. If there be 
such a one here to-night, let him become a little child again, 
that he may enter the kingdom of God ; let him recall the 

* Isa. xli., 17, 18. 



216 Peter, the Apostle. 



days when he knelt beside his mother's knee, and, with her 
soft, white hand upon his head, repeated after her his even- 
ing prayer : 

" Now I lay me down to sleep, 
I give my soul to Christ to keep." 

And as the holy memory of that happy time comes back 
upon him, haloed by the glory of the heaven in which his 
mother now is, let him repeat the dedication, this time with 
intelligence and decision, "I give my soul to Christ to 
keep." It is the best thing he can do. This is the best 
time to do it ; and if he do it not now, it may never be done 
at all. Therefore, in the prayer of his childhood let him 
make to-night the consecration of his manhood to the Lord. 



XV. 

ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA. 
Acts v., i-ii. 

THE description given by the inspired historian of the 
Church in the early days of its triumph and trial is ex- 
ceedingly suggestive. " The multitude of them that believed 
were of one heart and of one soul : neither said any of them 
that aught of the things which he possessed was his own ; 
but they had all things common. And with great power 
gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord 
Jesus : and great grace was upon them all."* The union 
and liberality of the members gave weight to the discourses 
of the preachers. The light in the hands of the apostles 
shone with an intenser brilliancy, because it was reflected 
by purity of character and disinterestedness of conduct in 
those who stood behind them. One feels, in reading the 
record, as if he were perusing the description of a new Para- 
dise; but, alas! he has not gone far before he comes upon 
the trail of the serpent, and sees the evidences of the pres- 
ence of him who is the enemy of God and men. 

" The corruption of the best thing becomes the worst of 
all things," so says the proverb ; and in the history which 
lies before us this evening we have abundant corroboration 
of its truth. Perhaps no feature in the life of the primitive 
believers is more attractive than their holding of all things 



* Acts iv., 32, 33. 

10 



218 Peter, the Apostle. 

at the service of the brotherhood; and in all ages since their 
days there have been those who have looked longingly back 
on the picture which the Evangelist has here painted, and 
sought to reproduce it in the societies with which they were 
connected. But as the brighter the light the darker ever 
is the shadow that is cast by that which stands in it, so, in 
connection with this most delightful characteristic of early 
Church life, and, indeed, springing out of it, was the first 
manifestation of hypocrisy. 

To understand how it came about we must go back a lit- 
tle to the practice which was followed by the disciples when 
they were going hither and thither in Palestine with the 
Lord Jesus. They had a common fund, which was kept by 
a treasurer, and out of which he paid the expenses of the 
company. This arrangement, however, was not inconsistent 
with the possession of personal property by each as an indi- 
vidual. It was a matter of convenience; and was doubtless 
in existence among them when the events of Pentecost oc- 
curred, which in one day widened the circle of the disciples 
from one hundred and twenty to three thousand. Natural- 
ly, there would be among such a number some poor and 
needy to be provided for. Perhaps some of the strangers 
then in Jerusalem would desire to remain for a time in the 
city, and would be in want of hospitality. Perhaps, also, 
some of the converts would be alienated, because of their 
conversion, from their friends and employers, and so cast for 
the moment on charity, while there would be the usual pro- 
portion of the destitute and the sick to be cared for. Now, 
it would be quite likely that, in seeking to relieve such cases, 
the apostles would begin by using their own fund. But that 
would be soon exhausted ; and we find that it was replen- 
ished at once by the generous enthusiasm of those who were 
in better circumstances among them. Indeed, it came to 
be the case that each one held his property, not for himself 



Ananias and Sapphira. 219 

alone, but for the brotherhood, and so they had the fellow- 
ship of giving and receiving. 

It has been supposed by some that there was a real and 
absolute community of goods among the first Christians; 
and it must be confessed that some of the expressions which 
Luke has employed read very much as if it had been the 
purpose of the believers "to abolish the external distinction 
between rich and poor." # But in regard to that matter the 
following facts need to be borne in mind : The state of 
things here described was not inconsistent with the posses- 
sion of private and personal property, for we shall by-and- 
by find that Mary, the mother of John, surnamed Mark, had 
a house of her own in Jerusalem.! There was no command 
issued by the apostles to the effect that each convert should 
lay his property at their feet. It was not a term of member- 
ship in the new society that each individual as he entered it 
should denude himself of all his possessions and surrender 
them to the brotherhood. They might sell their land or not, 
as they pleased ; they might give the proceeds of their prop- 
erty to the Church or not, as they pleased. There was no 
compulsion in the case. They might be members, and yet 
retain their wealth at their own disposal, subject only to the 
approval of Christ. The movement described in the thirty- 
fourth verse of the fourth chapter was entirely a spontane- 
ous thing ; and if we knew all the circumstances of the 
Church at the time, it might appear to be simply " a special 
service for a special need." It would seem, indeed, that in 
the Church at Jerusalem there were some peculiar difficul- 
ties in the way of securing the temporal support of its mem- 
bers, for repeated appeals had to be made even to the Gen- 
tile churches, in subsequent years, on their behalf. So, when 
we take into consideration the points which have been ad- 

* Schaff, "Apostolic Church History," § 114. t Acts xii., 12. 



220 Peter, the Apostle. 

vanced, we may see reason to agree with Neander that "a 
common chest was established, from which the wants of the 
poorer members of the Church were supplied, and perhaps, 
also, certain expenses incurred by the whole Church were 
defrayed ; and in order to increase their contributions many 
persons parted with their estates." 1 * 

If, however, any one should insist that this explanation is 
unsatisfactory, and that the words of the history can mean 
nothing but an absolute community of goods, then, though I 
can not agree with him in that opinion, I would ask him to 
remember these three things : 

i. Even supposing that communism of the Christian sort 
is here portrayed, it does not follow that we are bound to 
adopt such an arrangement now. The matter here was a 
development. It connected itself with a certain set of cir- 
cumstances ; and it was natural as an outgrowth from them. 
But in our case it would be different. Nothing but mischief 
can result from attempting to produce by external manage- 
ment that which was here a spontaneous expression of be- 
nevolence. What is binding upon us is the cultivation of 
the spirit which dictated this arrangement, not the particular 
form of the arrangement itself. That we should "do good 
unto all men, especially to those which are of the household 
of faith," is a constant law of the Christian life ; but the par- 
ticular channels in which our benevolence shall flow for the 
help of the brethren must be dug for us by the exigences of 
present need. And our wisdom is not to adopt any stereo- 
typed form, but to seek in the most appropriate and service- 
able manner to help the poorer ones among us to help them- 
selves. 

2. Christianity does not seek to destroy society, but only 
to regenerate it. Now, the existence of social distinctions is 

* Neander, " Planting and Training," Bonn's edition, vol. i., p. 26. 



Ananias and Sapphira. 221 

inseparable from any society in which free play is given to 
the abilities and idiosyncrasies of individuals. As natural- 
ly as the hand divides itself into fingers, or the tree into 
branches, does society divide itself into classes. Judging, 
therefore, from the analogy of its operation in other cases, 
the influence of the Gospel will be exerted in regulating the 
relations of these classes to each other, not in obliterating 
the distinction between them. The community must not 
swallow up the individual \ neither must the individual de- 
velop himself at the expense of the community ; and it is the 
office of Christianity to regulate the relation between them. 
It seeks by infusing love into the individual to keep him in 
harmony with the community. But communism, on the oth- 
er hand, sacrifices him to the community, and the result is 
that neither attains to the highest prosperity. 

3. If this which is described by Luke were communism, 
then, with all reverence be it said, the attempt to establish 
it was not so successful as to attract us to imitate it ; for not 
only did the hypocrisy of Ananias and his wife spring out of 
it, but it gave rise not long after to murmurings and dispu- 
tings concerning the daily ministrations, and altogether so 
distressed the apostles that they handed its management 
over to the deacons. Moreover, we find no trace of any 
thing like community of goods in the churches founded 
among the Gentiles, and so it is evident that the apostles 
did not consider it an essential part of the Christian life. 
Besides, in almost all the cases in which it has been attempt- 
ed, this system has led to evil results. Monasticism began 
by companies of poor brothers seeking to have all things in 
common, and it has culminated in the existence of rich fra- 
ternities holding in a dead and unproductive hand some of 
the finest territories on the surface of the earth. Political 
Saint- Simonianism, on the other hand, would loosen the 
bands of society, break up the home circle, reduce states- 



222 Peter, the Apostle. 

manship to a copartnery in selfishness, and put a drag on 
the wheels of all true and noble ambition. 

These facts are enough to show that even if an actual 
community of goods existed among the first Christians, we 
are under no obligation to follow such an example now. 
But, as I have already said, all the statements which are 
here made are perfectly consistent with the idea that Luke 
is referring to a fund for the support of the poor, while the 
words of Peter to Ananias, "While it remained, was it not 
thine own ? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own 
power ?" are to my mind utterly irreconcilable with any such 
communism as is advocated in modern times. 

We suppose, therefore, that there was among the Chris- 
tians of Jerusalem, now several thousands in number, a com- 
mon benevolent fund to which the wealthier members of the 
Church were encouraged to contribute, and for which many 
among them willingly gave up their all. One most illustri- 
ous example of this sort was Joses, surnamed Barnabas — a 
man well known and much beloved in after -days, as the 
companion of Paul ; and perhaps the great estimation in 
which he was held for his noble deed may have been the 
special occasion of which Satan took advantage, for the pur- 
pose of filling the hearts of Ananias and his wife with the 
temptation, before which they so ignominiously fell. At any 
rate, it would appear that this couple were possessed of 
property which they sold, and the price of which they pro- 
fessed to lay at the apostles' feet. But, as the land was, 
most probably, at a distance from Jerusalem, and they had 
effected the sale of it in such a way as to keep secret the 
true amount which they had received, they retained a por- 
tion, while they professed to give the whole. Thus they 
wished to obtain credit for a liberality equal to that of Bar- 
nabas, while yet they withheld a part of their property for 
themselves. They attempted to obtain a crown from God, 



Ananias and Sapphira. 223 

and at the same time to keep as much mammon as they 
thought they might require — with what result we are now 
to see. 

Outwardly the act of Ananias was no way different from 
that of Barnabas ; but when he came in with his offering, Pe- 
ter received a special revelation of his wickedness, and said 
unto him, "Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie 
to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of 
the land ? While it remained, was it not thine own ? and 
after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast 
thou conceived this thing in thine heart ? thou hast not lied 
unto men, but unto God." Scarcely had the apostle ceased 
when, smitten by the hand of God, Ananias fell down dead, 
and was carried out for burial. 

Some hours after, his wife Sapphira, apparently in igno- 
rance of what had occurred, made her appearance in the 
place of assembly, and Peter asked her if they had sold their 
land for a sum which he specified. One would have thought 
that such a question would have probed her conscience to 
the quick, and made her feel that the secret of herself and 
her husband had been discovered, but, defiant to the last 
degree, she answered " Yea," whereupon the apostle, having 
pointed out her wickedness, told her of the death of Ananias, 
and declared that she too must die. " Then fell she down 
straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost. And the 
young men came in, and found her dead, and carrying her 
forth, buried her by her husband." Such, in brief, are the in- 
cidents recorded in this section of apostolic history ; but they 
will bear, and they will reward, a more thorough scrutiny. 

Let us look, then, first, at the sin here charged upon Ana- 
nias. It is " lying to the Holy Ghost ;" " lying not unto 
men, but unto God." I pass, with a simple mention of it, 
the remarkable proof here incidentally furnished of the 
Deity of the Holy Ghost, and fix your thoughts for a little 



224 Peter, the Apostle. 

on the sin which these words describe. What was it? 
Some make it virtually identical with sacrilege, which con- 
sists in the using for a common purpose of that which had 
been exclusively consecrated to God. But Ananias had 
never really consecrated his entire property to God ; he 
only pretended to do so, and therefore his guilt was not that 
of sacrilege. Others would understand the words thus : 
"Why hast thou belied the Holy Ghost?" and would ex- 
plain them in this way, "Thou hast received the Holy Ghost, 
and thou professest now to be moved by him, in laying this 
money down at our feet, whereas thou hast been animated 
throughout by pride and selfishness ; and thus thou art be- 
lying him." But there is no need for all this circumlocution. 
The meaning is very plain : he told a lie to the Holy Ghost. 
Doubtless, it was to Peter and his brother apostles that the 
allegation was made ; but, then, these men were not only 
endowed with the Holy Ghost, but also the divinely appoint- 
ed rulers of the Church in which the Holy Spirit dwelt. 
Hence the lie told to Peter, as an office-bearer of the Church, 
was told to the Church. And the lie told to the Church 
was told to the Holy Ghost, whose habitation that Church 
is. He made a false representation to that Church which is 
the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Ghost. 

Then mark the aggravations by which the guilt of this sin 
was increased. " Aggravations !" I think I hear some one 
say, " Should you not rather speak of mitigations, for is it not 
all traced here to Satan in the words, 'Why hath Satan filled 
thine heart?'" But there is nothing in that objection. I 
admit that the suggestion came from Satan, and for the mak- 
ing of that he will be held responsible. But it was the duty 
of Ananias to repel the incitement; and because, so far 
from doing that, he fostered the evil germ until it sprung up 
into actual sin, he was guilty. Temptation does not excuse 
iniquity. It is to be resisted, not yielded to ; and only when 



Ananias and Sapphira. 225 

it is yielded to is there guilt. No man sins until he wills 
to sin ; and for that act of volition no one but himself is 
responsible. It will not do, therefore, to throw the entire 
blame on Satan. 

And here we plainly perceive some serious aggravations. 
In the first place, it was a deliberate lie. It was not the re- 
sult of some sudden impulse; neither was it told under the 
influence of some temporary excitement, or extorted from 
them by the rack of some persecutor's cruelty. They agreed 
together to tell it; and to this agreement some mutual de- 
liberation was necessary, so that it was fully planned be- 
tween them. 

Then it was a defiant sin. They agreed to tempt the 
Lord. Now reflect a moment on what that implies. It 
means that they had determined to put the Lord to the 
proof. They had arranged to test whether or not he could 
find out their wickedness. You remember that it is written 
of ancient Israel, " They tempted the Lord, saying, Is the 
Lord among us or not ?"* And, again, it is affirmed in the 
historic psalm that " they tempted God in their heart by 
asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God ; 
they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness ?"f So 
here the conduct of Ananias and his wife was a direct defi- 
ance of the Holy Spirit, as if they had said, " Let us see if 
God be in the Church or not ; if he be, let him find out our 
deception." 

In this view of the matter their guilt assumes a very crim- 
son hue. " It is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy 
God."! So said our blessed Lord to the arch-fiend, when 
he suggested that he should cast himself from the pinnacle 
of the Temple, and put his Father's promises to a presumpt- 
uous test ; but fearful as was the sin which Satan thus at- 

* Exod. xvii., 7. t Psa. lxxviii., 18, 19. J Matt, iv., 7. 



226 Peter, the Apostle. 

tempted to get the Saviour to commit, this wickedness of 
Ananias was more dreadful still. For it has in it a ques- 
tioning of the deity and omniscience of the Holy Ghost, and 
a determination to put that to the test of one instance. It 
was the same in kind with that committed some years ago 
by an infidel woman who was lecturing in a town in Lanca- 
shire, England, and who said, " If there be a God, I give him 
ten minutes to take away my life." Oh, the long-suffering 
of that Jehovah who did not take her at her word ! 

But once more, this was a gratuitous sin. They went out 
of their way to commit it. There was no obligation oth- 
er than that which their own consciences imposed, which 
bound them to sell their land, or give all the proceeds for 
the general good. They might have continued Christians 
in good and regular standing even if they had not done so ; 
for it was not a term of communion in the primitive Church 
that every one should sell all that he had and give to the 
poor. But under a desire to have a reputation for benevo- 
lence, while yet they kept a sum sufficient to sustain them, 
they committed this sin. If it had been in some matter of 
essential importance, perhaps we might have found some- 
thing more to say in their behalf; but as it was, they stepped 
aside from the path for the very purpose of committing this 
iniquity. Their ambition for the good opinion of men, and 
their unwillingness to part with mammon, were the two roots 
from which their sin did spring. Covetousness and love of 
approbation led them to their ruin. Of how many more 
than they might the same thing be said ! 

But now look at their punishme.it. It was immediate 
death, and that, too, to use a modern legal phrase, "by the 
visitation of God." I am aware, indeed, that some of those 
commentators, who are unwilling to admit the supernatural 
in the very slightest degree, have alleged that Ananias died 
of apoplexy ; and that others have not scrupled to say that 



Ananias and Sapphira. 227 

he was put to death by Peter's orders, if not, indeed, by his 
own hands ; but there is nothing in the narrative which af- 
fords the slightest warrant for any such beliefs. The sim- 
plest explanation of both deaths is to attribute them to the 
hand of God, and this is also the vindication of their doom ; 
for shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? Indeed, I 
do not see why we should be called upon to defend a case 
like this just because it is recorded in this book, when other 
similar instances have occurred in God's ordinary provi- 
dence. It is true that we are not always warranted to infer 
that special things of this nature are the indications of spe- 
cial sin ; but still there are cases in which such a conclusion 
seems to be utterly irresistible. It has been well said here 
by Dr. Dick that, " as it discovers rashness and presumption 
to construe common calamities as proofs of the peculiar guilt 
and demerit of the sufferers, so not to observe the clear to- 
kens of the divine displeasure against individuals which ap- 
pear in the nature and circumstances of their punishment 
indicates a high degree of stupidity, a temper approaching 
to atheism, under whatever pretenses of caution and charity 
it may be disguised."* Nay, the common sense of mankind 
may be safely trusted in regard to such things. In the mark- 
et-place of the town of Devizes, in England, there is a tablet 
which records that near to the spot on which it is fixed a 
woman dropped down dead, having just uttered the words, 
" If I have got the half-crown, may God strike me dead !" and 
the coin was found firmly fixed in the hand of her corpse. 
Now, there was nothing in the cases of Ananias and Sap- 
phira which requires vindication more than there was in that. 
God's hand was in both alike, and that to the sincerely pious 
heart is enough. 

But notwithstanding that, we can see a special reason 

* "Lectures on the Acts of the Apostles," p. 81. 



228 Peter, the Apostle. 

why, at this particular time, this warning came in the histo- 
ry of the Christian Church. In the beginning of the Mosa- 
ic economy, Nadab and Abihu were stricken down for burn- 
ing strange fire upon the holy altar ; in the beginning of the 
conquest of Canaan, Achan was put to death for secreting a 
portion of the devoted spoil of Jericho in his tent ; and so 
now in the commencement of the Church's history, when its 
members were laying their offerings, that is, themselves, upon 
the altar of consecration, and when they were girding them- 
selves for the holy war which is yet to issue in the conquest 
of the world for Christ, it was meet that they should be put 
on their guard against hypocrisy, and warned of the danger 
which ever haunts a divided heart. "I will be sanctified," 
says Jehovah, " in them that come nigh me, and before all 
the people I will be glorified."* 

The record is silent as to the eternal condition of these 
hapless ones, and we undertake not to push aside the veil 
which it has hung over their after- state. They went, like 
another, to their own place. Let us follow them no farther, 
but seek to learn from their history the lessons with which 
it is so fully fraught. 

We may see, in the first place, the twofold effect of a faith- 
ful ministry. On the one hand, we read that great grace 
was upon them all, and that Joses made a complete sacri- 
fice of his property to the Lord. And, on the other, we have 
this dreadful history of Ananias — both under the immediate 
presidency of the apostles. From the very first, therefore, it 
has been vain to seek after a perfectly pure Church. But 
what I am most concerned with now is, that we may account 
for both of these results by the faithfulness of the ministry. 
The good are made better, and, if the bad are not converted, 
they are made worse under the instruction of a devoted pas- 

* Lev. x., 3. 



Ananias and Sapphira. 229 

tor. If some develop into Barnabases, to cheer his heart, oth- 
ers, alas ! become like Ananias, to sadden his spirit. Paul, 
in writing to the Philippians, where his success had been 
very signal, had to speak of some even among them as " the 
enemies of the cross of Christ."* And in one of his letters 
to the Corinthians, he says, with great solemnity, "We are 
unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, 
and in them that perish. To the one we are the savor of 
death unto death, and to the other the savor of life unto life. 
And who is sufficient for these things?"! Every earnest 
minister understands this well. As the years revolve, he is 
encouraged not only by the conversion of many to the Lord, 
but also by the perception in many of those who are al- 
ready Christians of a deepening of character, and enlarge- 
ment of heart, and increasing consecration of life. He sees 
the blade shooting up into the stalk, and the stalk develop- 
ing into the ear, and the ear filling and mellowing into ripe- 
ness ; and his heart is made glad thereby. But, alas! along- 
side of these very cases he observes others who are becom- 
ing more gross and sensual and selfish under his ministra- 
tions. His appeals seem only to harden them into more 
stolid insensibility, or to stimulate them to a hypocrisy like 
this of Ananias, which is sure, in the end, to terminate in the 
death of reputation and respectability, even as here it re- 
sulted in the death of the individual. I have known two 
men sit for ten years side by side, every Lord's day, under a 
ministry in which both at first took great delight ; but while 
the one became a Christian, and passed through the Church 
to the highest offices which it was in the power of his fel- 
low-citizens to bestow upon him, the other went through hy- 
pocrisy into intemperance, and through intemperance into 
a drunkard's grave. The same process is going on among 

* Phil, iii., 18. t 2 Cor. ii., 15, 16. 



230 Peter, the Apostle. 

us here. What then? Shall the minister be less faithful? 
Nay, verily, for necessity is laid upon him, and woe is unto 
him if he "preach not the Gospel."* But let the hearers 
beware ; for if, under the proclamation of the truth, they do 
not gradually approach nearer to the unselfishness of Barna- 
bas, they must be on the way to the hypocrisy of Ananias. 

We may learn, in the second place, that it is impossible 
to combine the services of God and Mammon. The one is 
sin, the other is holiness ; the one is selfishness, the other is 
benevolence ; the one has its terminus in heaven, the other 
has its destiny in hell. How, then, is it possible to amal- 
gamate the two ? Yet the attempt has been often made, and 
always with the same result. Remember " Balaam, the son 
of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness." With a 
conscience so scrupulous that he would not allow himself to 
speak in Jehovah's name otherwise than as the Lord had 
bidden him, he yet did not hesitate to take the reward which 
Balak offered him ; and after he had predicted the glory and 
perpetuity of Israel, he lent himself to a diabolical plan to 
corrupt the tribes to their destruction, and died upon the 
field of battle, fighting against the army of the Lord. There 
was the earthly issue of his attempt ! Remember also Ju- 
das, who, pretending friendship for the Lord Jesus, kissed 
him only that he might betray him, and then, having re- 
ceived the thirty pieces of silver for which he had covenant- 
ed, he went and hanged himself. That was the end of his 
attempt. And you see what it was in this case of Ananias. 
The determination to combine these two services ends al- 
ways in hopeless and eternal failure. Nay, the man who 
makes it becomes at length more devoted in his allegiance 
to Mammon than ever, and draws down upon his head a 
more dreadful doom. 

* 1 Cor. ix., 16. 



Ananias and Sapphira. 23s 

Will you think of all these cases, and be wise in time ? It 
were easier to bring the East and West together than it is 
to combine these incompatible characters ; yet, alas ! in all 
our churches there are too many who may be described in 
the words of the German Horn as " having all the desire in 
the world to build God Almighty a magnificent church, at 
the same time, however, not giving the devil any offense; 
to whom, accordingly, they set up a neat little chapel close 
by, where you can offer him some touch of sacrifice at a 
time, and practice a quiet devotion for him without disturb- 
ance."* But God will have a whole heart or none. He 
will not be contented with the profession that you give him 
your undivided homage, while yet you retain some secret 
sin, or some darling lust, or some cherished ambition in 
some hidden recess of your heart. Either you must pluck 
that out, or that will shut you out forever from his presence. 
Surely, then, we shall sing with new fervor these searching 

lines : 

" The dearest idol I have known, 
Whate'er that idol be, 
Help me to tear it from Thy throne, 
And worship only Thee." 

We may learn, thirdly, that it is awfully dangerous to allow 
any one evil principle to gain the mastery over us. You can 
see that clearly in the case of a habit that is partly physic- 
al and external, like intemperance. Every one understands 
the drunkard's slavery ; but we do not all see that there is 
really a similar bondage in every habitual sin. " Whoso- 
ever committeth sin is the slave of sin." Take such a prin- 
ciple, for example, as covetousness ; and though it may be- 
gin in small things, it holds its victim in as tight a grasp 
as his appetite holds the drunkard. It keeps him from be- 

* See Caiiyle's " Essay on the State of German Literature." 



232 Peter, the Apostle. 

ing just, even to himself, and it prevents him from being gen- 
erous to others. It stands between the man and his God, 
and is, in a word, his chosen good ; but at length, as the 
name " miser " indicates, when the passion has thoroughly 
developed itself, it makes its victim utterly wretched. 

So, again, the love of approbation, when it is suffered to 
gain the ascendency, absolutely enchains the soul. The 
question, " Is it right ?" has to give place to this other, " How 
will it look ?" and the temporary applause of men is made 
to count for more than the eternal approbation of God. So 
with all other evil principles. Whatever we prefer to God 
does in the end enslave us in some way. Of his service 
alone can it be said that it is "perfect freedom." 

And, remember, it does not take many such things to 
hold us fast to our destruction. One will do it. A man 
went, one day, when the tide was out, to gather sea-plants 
on the rocks ; and, in stepping from ledge to ledge, his leg 
slipped down, and became jammed in a crevice. He tried 
to pull it out. He shrieked, he shouted, he prayed ; but all 
in vain. By-and-by the tide came remorselessly in, and rose 
up, and up, and up, until it flowed over him, and stifled his 
last gurgling cry. Yet he was held only in one place ! So 
one secret bosom sin cherished, one evil habit practiced out 
of sight of men, will, by-and-by, gain such strength that it 
will hold us fast while the deluge of eternal judgment comes 
sweeping over us. "If thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it 
is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two 
hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be 
quenched."* 

Finally, we may learn here that it is vain to think of de- 
ceiving God. Ananias and his wife had formed their plan 
with care, and used every precaution to escape discovery. 

* Mark ix., 43. 



Ananias and Sapphira. 233 

But they had not taken God into account ;_and so, at length, 
they were covered with confusion, and overwhelmed with 
swift destruction. Let us be warned by their exposure and 
doom, lest we, too, share at last their fate. We may deceive 
ourselves ; we may deceive those who are living in the home 
beside us ; we may deceive the office-bearers and members 
of the Church of Christ ; but we have not deceived God. 
His eye has been on us from the beginning, and has searched 
us through and through. If, therefore, we have been living 
a lie, he will somehow confront us with the truth, and put us 
to " shame and everlasting contempt." 

I have somewhere read that, when one king had been 
vanquished in war by another, the conqueror offered terms 
which were satisfactory to the conquered in every respect 
save this : that they required him to do public homage to 
his victor. That, however, was at length so far modified, that 
he was to be permitted to render his obeisance in the tent 
of his rival. But when the hour came, and he was in the 
very act of doing homage, his enemy, by some machinery 
which he had prepared, stripped off the canvas covering, and 
revealed him to the gaze of both the armies on his knees 
before his conqueror. So, if we allow a sinful ambition or 
an evil appetite to overmaster us, and think we can save our- 
selves from humiliation by doing our homage to it under the 
secrecy of some curtained tent, we may be sure that when 
we are in the very act of owning our allegiance to it, the 
Lord will throw down the covering, and unveil our degrada- 
tion before the eyes of men and angels. Is it not written 
that he " shall bring every work into judgment, with every 
secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil ?" # 
Hath he not set "our secret sins in the light of his counte- 
nance ?"t Ah, who of us can stand before such a scrutiny ? 

* Eccles. xii., 14. t Psa. xc, 8. 



234 Peter, the Apostle. 

Do we not feel, in the light of these truths, more than we 
ever felt before, our need of "the redemption that is in 
Christ Jesus ?" Come, then, and apply to him for his cleans- 
ing blood and his renewing spirit, that we may obtain eman- 
cipation from the slavery of sin, and have " boldness in the 
day of judgment." 



XVI. 

BEFORE THE COUNCIL AGAIN. 

Acts v., 12-42. 

AFTER the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful 
Gate of the Temple, it would seem that Solomon's 
porch* became a stated place of meeting among the primi- 
tive disciples. I do not suppose that all their assemblies 
convened there ; but as the Christians at this date, and for 
some considerable time later, maintained their observance 
of the Mosaic law, it would be convenient for them, as they 
went up to the Temple at the regular hours of prayer, to 
arrange for conferences with each other at the same times. 
Nor were they at first molested ; for, although the rulers 
threatened the apostles with violence if they should continue 
to preach in the name of Jesus, yet the reality of the mira- 
cles which they performed, and the boldness which they man- 
ifested, as well as the attractiveness of the Gospel which they 
preached, attached to them a great number of followers from 
among the common people. The deaths of Ananias and 
Sapphira, indeed, had produced a very deep and solemi\ im- 
pression, and kept those who were actuated by mere worldly 
motives from connecting themselves with the new society. 
Still, the numbers of the faithful steadily increased, and 
quite a new impetus was given to the movement by the de- 
velopment among the apostles of the miraculous gift of 
healing with which the Holy Ghost had endowed them. 

* Acts v., 12. 



236 Peter, the Apostle. 

They cured all manner of diseases ; and such was the ea- 
gerness and faith of the people, that " they brought out their 
sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that 
at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshad. 
ow some of them." Nay, more : this great opportunity for 
the diseased was so talked of throughout the district that a 
multitude came " out of the cities round about unto Jerusa- 
lem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with 
unclean spirits ; and they were healed every one." 

After the argument which I presented to you in a former 
lecture on the possibility of miracles, and the nature of the 
testimony which they bear to the Gospel, I need not now 
say any thing on these subjects.* But as the advocates of 
the supremacy of the pope found something on what is said 
here concerning Peter, and as some have supposed that this 
reference to Peter's shadow has in it an element of supersti- 
tion, I may make a passing allusion to these matters. 

In regard to the primacy of the pope, let me frankly ad- 
mit, what indeed is too patent to be denied, that Peter did 
occupy the foremost place in the Church at this time, and 
that this was in fulfillment of the promise which the Lord 
had made to him. But what that has to do with the suprem- 
acy of the pope, or on what grounds the Bishop of Rome can 
be regarded as the successor of Peter and the inheritor of 
his priority, I am unable to discover. The argument of the 
Papacy here may be reduced to a syllogism, thus : the Apos- 
tle Peter was the first of the apostles in the primitive Church; 
the Bishop of Rome succeeded to the place and power of 
Peter ; therefore the Bishop of Rome is the primate of the 
Church. Now, the major premise of that argument must be 
admitted to be in some sense true, and Protestants only 
weaken their cause when they cavil at or deny its truth; 

* See ante, p. 189. 



Before the Council Again. 237 

for, as we have seen, ever since the clay of Pentecost Peter 
was the leader of the disciples. But the minor premise is a 
flagrant assumption. It takes for granted that the apostles 
could have successors ; it assumes that the Bishop of Rome 
was the successor of Peter, and that the prerogatives which 
were bestowed upon that apostle as a reward for his noble 
confession of his Lord must descend to the holders of a cer- 
tain office altogether independently of their character and 
conduct. Of these things no sort of proof worthy of the 
name is offered, and, what is more, no proof whatever can 
be given. Therefore, the argument, as a whole, is a failure. 
But while we admit the primacy of Peter at this time, it 
would appear that it was not intended that he should con- 
tinue to retain pre-eminence ; for at a later date we shall 
find James in the presidential chair at the Council of Je- 
rusalem, while Peter speaks as an ordinary member ; nay, 
more, we shall discover that Peter's advice was declined, 
while the suggestion of James was accepted. 

Farther, if it be supposed that the reference to Peter's 
shadow here sets him on a pedestal above the others, then 
the reply is easy ; for, in the first place, the healing power 
resided neither in Peter nor in his shadow, but in the Lord 
Jesus Christ ; and, in the second place, similar miracles were 
afterward performed through the media of handkerchiefs and 
aprons that had been in contact with Paul.* 

But some ask, in astonishment, "Was not all this super- 
stition ?" To which I reply that it would have been so, if the 
minds of the applicants had rested simply, and only, on the 
shadow. But they came to be cured, not by the shadow in 
itself, nor by Peter himself, but by the Lord. Hence they 
were exercising faith, sincere and strong as hers who stole 
behind the Lord himself, and said within herself, " If I may 

* Acts xix., 11, 12. 



238 Peter, the Apostle. 

but touch his garment, I shall be whole."* The great thing 
was, that they who sought a cure were looking to Christ for 
it ; and when they were doing that, and recognized that the 
power of healing lay in him alone, it was a matter of indif- 
ference through what means they sought it. If the Lord 
were pleased to act, he could do so through any sort of in- 
strumentality. All methods adopted by him were only signs. 
A word, a touch, a shadow — each alike — was but a symbol 
designed to help the faith of the applicant, and to meet 
his individual necessity. There was no virtue in it ; that 
came out of Christ. Thus regarded, therefore, the act of 
those who sought that only the shadow of Peter might fall 
upon their sick rises almost to the height of the faith of him 
who said to Jesus, " I am not worthy that thou shouldest 
come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my serv- 
ant shall be healed ;" and of which the Lord said, "I have 
not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. "f 

These miracles attracted still greater attention to the 
apostles and their message. They had larger audiences to 
address, and much success accompanied their preaching, so 
that multitudes, "both of men and women, were added to 
the Lord." 

It is a little remarkable that this is the first express no- 
tice we have of female membership in the Christian Church. 
We know that during the days of his public ministry many 
Galilean women distinguished themselves by their kindness 
to the Lord, and we can never forget that those who were 
the last to leave his remains in the sepulchre, and the first 
to greet him on the morning of his resurrection, were wom- 
en. So, too, there were women in the upper room, and there 
must have been many among the converts on Pentecost and 
afterward ; for Sapphira was not the solitary representative 

* Matt, ix., 21. t Matt, viii., 8, 10. 



Before the Council Again. 239 

of her sex : but here first it is plainly asserted that females 
were received into the Church. 

Perhaps the very mention of Sapphira's name in connec- 
tion with her sin may have suggested to the historian the 
importance of specially recording this noteworthy fact; and 
we may not pass it by in silence, for the Gospel alone has 
been just to woman. All other religions have more or less 
debased her, and made her the slave of man. The savages 
of the East and the West have been alike in this, that they 
have driven the weakest to the wall ; and she who was in- 
tended to be the helpmeet of her husband, sharing all his 
cares, doubling all his joys, and throwing a halo of glory 
round his home, has been trampled under the hoof of cruel- 
ty, or branded with the mark of violence, or treated as an in- 
ferior being. But the Gospel has recognized her true posi- 
tion, and has educated her to fill it ; for in the highest of all 
earthly fellowship — that of the Christian Church — she stands 
by the side of man. " In Christ Jesus there is neither male 
nor female." Thus the Gospel has given dignity to woman- 
hood, and thereby it has raised the whole tone and charac- 
ter of social life ; for, restored to her rightful place, woman 
has elevated the home with her, and all within it, husband 
and children alike, are the happier for her exaltation. The 
treatment of woman is everywhere the true gauge of religion 
and civilization j and she is then only in her proper place 
when she is neither the drudge of oppression, the idol of 
chivalry, nor the plaything of fashion, but the fellow-Chris- 
tian and companion of her husband. 

The increased stir made by the apostolic miracles and 
successes roused anew the antagonism of the Jewish rulers, 
who, determined, if possible, to put an end to the whole en- 
terprise, apprehended the apostles, and put them " in the 
common prison." But he who could work miracles by his 
servants could also, when it was needful, work miracles for 



240 Peter, the Apostle. 

them; and during the night, by the ministrations of an an- 
gel, he opened for them the doors of their dungeon, and sent 
them forth, saying, "Go, stand, and speak in the temple to 
the people all the words of this life." Every word in this 
commission is emphatic. They were to tell of life, spiritual, 
immortal — resurrection-life. They were to tell of this life 
as connected with the Lord Jesus Christ. They were to tell 
all the words of it, keeping back nothing from regard either 
to the frown or the favor of the multitude. They were to 
tell of it in the Temple, the place of daily concourse ; and 
they were to tell of it to the people as a whole, without re- 
spect to class or caste. "To the people." This is the di- 
vine charter of Gospel rights and privileges, and it gives 
them, not to any conclave of priests or any order of men, 
but to the people. Wherever, therefore, any measures are 
adopted to keep them from hearing or reading its " words 
of life," the great design of the Lord Jesus is counteracted. 

The Gospel rings the death-knell of all monopolies, and 
is the pioneer everywhere of popular liberty, popular educa- 
tion, and popular progress. Hence its dissemination among 
the masses which crowd the streets and lanes of our large 
cities is the one great indispensable thing for the securing of 
the prosperity and permanence of the nation. There is but 
one panacea that will heal our social and political maladies. 
If the habits of the working-people, as a class, are intem- 
perate and improvident ; if the relations between employers 
and employed are hostile and disagreeable, breaking out 
ever and anon into lock-outs, on the one hand, and strikes 
on the other ; if the lobbies of our halls of legislation are 
scenes of corruption, and enactments are bought and sold 
for a bribe ; if scarcely a day elapses without the revelation 
of some new dishonesty at which the world stands aghast ; 
then there is but one remedy for all these evils. It is to be 
found in the Gospel of Christ ; and the incidents of our days 



Before the Council Again. 241 

are saying to us, as clearly as the angel said to the liberated 
apostles, "Go, stand and speak to the people all the words 
of this life." Multiply your agencies for the reaching of 
those who never enter a place of worship ; send forth a 
thousand-fold more laborers into the dens and purlieus of 
vice among us ; organize new efforts for the neglected rich 
in the midst of us ; send missionaries into our avenues and 
among our legislators, as well as into the low places of the 
city and among our sailors ; and, with these efforts for their 
good, do not forget your own spiritual interests. Thus, 
speaking of this life to the people as a whole, you will begin 
at the fountain-head of all evil, and at length a virtuous na- 
tion will be the fruit of your endeavors. 

One cries up education ; another speaks of temperance ; 
a third calls for better houses for the working - classes ; a 
fourth insists upon the necessity of mutual understanding 
between capital and labor ; and all these things are good 
enough in themselves. But they are all dealing with matters 
which are themselves effects. The Gospel alone touches the 
one prolific cause by which they have all been produced. 
It alone, by the grace of God, can change the selfish nature 
of men into self-sacrificing benevolence, and teach them to 
live in purity, in peace, in brotherhood, in love. Here is a 
centennial text for us. It lies at the very root of our nation- 
al life ; and only in so far as we obey its commands shall 
we secure that " government of the people, by the people, 
and for the people," shall not disappear from the earth. 
Ring it out, then, clear and loud ; obey it yourselves, and see 
that others give it good heed : "Go, stand and speak to the 
people all the words of this life." 

Obedient to the angelic injunction, they went forth to do 
their Master's work ; and early in the morning " they entered 
into the Temple and taught." Much about the same time 
as they went to Solomon's porch, a special meeting of the 



242 Peter, the Apostle. 

Council was convened ; and the first thing its members did 
was to send to the prison for the men whom they supposed 
they had so securely confined. Judge of their surprise, how- 
ever, when the officers returned, and said, " The prison truly 
found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing with- 
out before the doors : but when we had opened, we found 
no man within." They were amazed, and as they were won- 
dering whereunto the thing would grow, another came and 
said, " Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing 
in the Temple, and teaching the people.'' This was defi- 
ance indeed ! not to be endured a moment longer ; so the 
captain and officers went and brought them before the Coun- 
cil ; using no violence, however, for the double reason that 
none was needed, and that the people, if it had been offered, 
might have attempted a rescue. 

When the apostles were set before the Sanhedrim, the 
high-priest began the proceedings against them by putting a 
question and making an accusation. He said, "Did not we 
straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? 
And, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, 
and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." 

Mark how contemptuously he alludes to Jesus, contriving 
all the while to avoid the mention of his name, as if, forsooth, 
the mere pronunciation of it would pollute his lips. "This 
name;" "this man's blood;" "your doctrine." He would 
not contribute to the preservation of the name of Jesus by 
condescending even to utter it; and now all that is known 
about him is, that he had the hardihood to resist the Lord's 
apostles. 

Observe, also, the admission which he makes as to the 
progress of the Christian faith: "Ye have filled Jerusalem 
with your doctrine." There may be some rhetorical exagger- 
ation in this mode of stating the case; but still it indicates 
that already the new society had become formidable in the 



Before the Council Again. 243 

eyes of the priesthood, and that it was continuing to make 
great advances. 

Observe, once more, the indications of conscience in the 
words, "Ye intend to bring this man's blood upon us." Pe- 
ter had, indeed, used very strong and pointed language on 
that subject. He had not scrupled to charge the leaders of 
the people with being the crucifiers of Jesus, and at an ear- 
lier date the members of the Council would neither have 
hesitated nor blushed to own the deed. They deemed it at 
the time a fine stroke of policy, and congratulated themselves 
that thereby they had got rid of a troublesome adversary. 
But now that the followers of the Nazarene were becoming 
so numerous, now that so much was said about the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus, and so many miracles were wrought by his fol- 
lowers, they began to feel uneasy, and wished to repudiate 
all connection with his crucifixion, or at least to exonerate 
themselves from all blame for his death. 

But Peter was ready with his reply. He gave utterance 
to the determination of himself and his fellow -apostles in 
words which at the same time assert the important principle 
of liberty of conscience. He said, "We ought to obey God 
rather than men." The rulers of the people laid one set of 
commands upon them. God gave them injunctions of an op- 
posite character, and they chose to obey God, and to take 
the consequences at the hands of men. Thus their conduct 
here at once explains and limits the principles which they 
have elsewhere laid down as to obedience to civil govern- 
ment. When Paul, writing to the Romans, says, " Let every 
soul be subject to the higher powers,"* we must not forget 
that he was himself imprisoned for refusing to comply with 
the demands of civil rulers ; and when Peter says, " Submit 
yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake ; 

* Rom. xiii., i. 



244 Peter, the Apostle. 

whether it be to the king, as supreme ; or unto governors,"* 
we must bear in mind that it was he who uttered this noble 
protest, " We ought to obey God rather than men." It is 
evident, therefore, that there are limits within which civil 
governments may be obeyed, and ought to be obeyed, but 
beyond which they have no jurisdiction. It is right to obey 
them when that which they enjoin is within the sphere of 
government as such, and when it has been constitutionally 
enacted • but if that which they command is in opposition 
to the word of God, and within a province to which their 
power does not extend, we ought to follow the example of 
the apostles here, and disobey them, cheerfully taking the 
consequences. God alone is Lord of the conscience ; and 
if any earthly usurper should attempt to invade that sacred 
territory, he is to be resisted "even unto blood." This is the 
meaning of the stand here taken by Peter ; and the battle 
commenced that day has gone on through the centuries, 

" Bequeath'd from bleeding sire to son, 
Though baffled oft, is ever won j" 

so that now we see this principle recognized and acted upon 
by a larger multitude than ever before upon the earth ; and 
when we honor the memories of those heroes to whom the 
world owes that religious freedom which is the crown and 
glory of civil liberty, let not the Apostle Peter be forgotten ! 
But it might have been objected to the apostle, that he 
was wrong in supposing that God had given them such com- 
mands, and so he proceeds to justify his confidence by al- 
leging that God had raised up Jesus, whom they had slain, 
and that he had exalted him "with his right hand to be a 
prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and 
the remission of sins." And lest they should suppose that 



Peter ii., 13. 



Before the Council Again. 245 

all this was imaginary, he affirms that it was attested, first, by 
the evidence of their own senses ; and, second, by the Holy 
Ghost, who had been given by the ascended Jesus to all 
them that obeyed him, and by whose power their miracles 
had been wrought, and their characters had been formed. 
" The whole remonstrance is," as Alford has said, " a perfect 
model of concise and ready eloquence, and of unanswerable 
logical coherence : and a notable fulfillment of the prom- 
ise, ' It shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall 
speak.'"* 

Thus, for the fourth time, we have Peter connecting the 
Church of the present on the earth with the ascended Christ, 
as receiving from him not only such miraculous gifts as those 
with which the early Christians were endowed, but also the 
more valuable spiritual blessings of repentance, forgiveness, 
and holiness of life. Nothing is more remarkable to the 
student of this early history than the fact that Peter con- 
stantly insists upon the connection between the crucifixion 
of Christ, on the one hand, and his resurrection and ascen- 
sion on the other ; and that he traces the gift of the Holy 
Spirit back through the exaltation to the crucifixion. This 
is the Petrine Gospel, as clearly as the doctrine of justifica- 
tion by faith is the Pauline. The one met the condition of 
the Jewish mind, just as the other was especially adapted to 
the Gentile ; but both are true, and both were held alike by 
Peter and Paul. Still, the fact that each dwelt more upon 
the one than upon the other is suggestive, as hinting to us 
that while we must never shun to declare to men all the 
counsel of God, there are times and places when the pres- 
entation of one aspect of truth is more important than that 
of another. 

The reply of Peter exasperated the members of the Coun- 



Matt. x., 19. Alford, in loco. 



246 Peter, the Apostle. 

cil. They were indeed " cut to the heart," but the sorrow 
was not "after a godly sort" It was "the sorrow of the 
world ;" and in their rage they consulted together to put 
them all to death. But before they came to their decision 
they were softened down by the moderate counsels of one 
of their own number. This was Gamaliel, the son of Si- 
mon, and the celebrated teacher of the Apostle Paul. Accord- 
ing to Dr. Ginsburg, the modern Jewish scholar, "the frag- 
ments which have Gamaliel's name attached to them " prove 
"that he was endowed with great intellectual powers, a fond- 
ness for study, and for definitely settling every point of dif- 
ficulty, refined taste, and good judgment; that he was hu- 
mane, anxious to ameliorate the condition of the helpless, a 
strict Pharisee, yet liberal-minded, and averse to persecute 
those who differed from him."* He did not belong to the 
sect of the Sadducees, who were the chief movers in the 
present attempt to silence the apostles ; but the estimation 
in which he was held by all the people secured for him an 
attentive hearing. He recommended his colleagues to be 
cautious, and to wait a while before they took any violent 
measures. It might be that the new movement was of God ; 
and if so, they could not put it down, no matter what they 
did. But if, on the other hand, it were not of God, it would 
very soon die out of itself; as in two other instances to 
which he referred, and which were still fresh in their recol- 
lection, had actually been the case. Their wisest course, 
therefore, was to let the men alone ; and as at the moment 
it did not seem to the Sadducees that they had any pretext 
strong enough for taking cruel measures, they agreed to fol- 
low this advice. So, when they had ordered the apostles 
to be beaten with rods, they let them go ; but the treatment 
which they had received did not damp the ardor of their 



* Alexander's " Kilto," sub voce Gamaliel. 



Before the Council Again. 247 

zeal, for " they departed from the presence of the Council 
rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for 
his name; and daily in the Temple, and from house to 
house, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ." 
In this speech of Gamaliel there are two things which 
seem to call for special remark. The first is, that there is 
an apparent discrepancy between him and Josephus as to 
the insurrection of Theudas. A person of that name is 
spoken of by the Jewish historian as having headed an in- 
surrection ; but, then, the date of his rising was some years 
subsequent to that of the events which we have now been 
reviewing. Hence, many would infer that the account given 
in the Acts is erroneous. But that is far from being a just 
conclusion ; for, apart altogether from the consideration of 
the question of Luke's inspiration, Josephus was just as 
likely to be wrong as he was. Nay, the history of Josephus, 
as Alford remarks, " teems with inaccuracies ;" so that we 
have no right to argue that, because he says one thing and 
Luke another, therefore Luke must be wrong. Moreover, 
Josephus himself, speaking of a time which might very well 
accord with that referred to here, says, " Now at this time 
there were ten thousand other disorders in Judea, which 
were like tumults, because a great number put themselves 
into a warlike posture, either out of hopes of gain to them- 
selves, or out of enmity to the Jews."* Once more, the 
name Theudas was by no means uncommon ; and it may 
very well have been that a person called by it may have 
been the leader of one of those tumults to which, in the 
passage which I have just quoted, the historian has referred. 
The case of Judas is referred to by Josephus, and has occa- 
sioned no difficulty ; and we need not linger a single mo- 
ment upon it. 

* "Antiquities," 17, 10,4. 



248 Peter, the Apostle. 

But we can not pass Gamaliel's advice in silence. It is 
hardly necessary to say that he was speaking his own opin- 
ion, and that his words are not an authoritative statement. 
For it is not the fact that human inventions in religious mat- 
ters always come immediately to naught. The case of Mo- 
hammedanism, which has held its ground for nearly twelve 
centuries, is one in point ; and when we remember that, we 
can not give unqualified assent to the rabbi's assertion. 

Neither, again, is it invariably the fact that truth will hold 
its ground in the face of error and opposition. The seat of 
the Seven Churches of Asia is now almost entirely a Mo- 
hammedan district, and the Reformation was almost com- 
pletely trodden out both in Italy and Spain. I admit, in- 
deed, that as a broad law characterizing the administration 
of the Divine government from the beginning to the end, it 
will hold good ; for, when we look thus at history, we can 
fully indorse the words of our own poet : 

" Truth crushed to earth shall rise again : 
The eternal years of God are hers ; 
But Error, wounded, writhes with pain, 
And dies among his worshipers." 

But as applied to individual cases within even such a range 
as the life-time of a man, it fails. Immediate success is thus 
not an infallible evidence of truth, neither is the absence of 
such success a sure indication of error. Therefore, in set- 
tling the matter of the soul's allegiance, we have to do with 
other, afrd more important, elements than that. We must 
determine whether the claims put forth in the Gospel are 
convincing on such evidence as Peter put forth then ; and, 
having made the decision, we must act " in scorn of conse- 
quence." Gamaliel's words have been often quoted as if 
they had been almost inspired. But, indeed, they are far 
from being universally true ; and they read to me more like 



Before the Council Again. 249 

the saying of a man who wanted an excuse for doing noth- 
ing, than like the utterance of an earnest inquirer after truth. 

But what shall we say of his advice : " Refrain from these 
men, and let them alone ?" That was wise ; but it was so 
just because it is always wise to leave religious questions 
untouched either by civil enactment or magisterial interfer- 
ence. If a cause is right, you can not ultimately kill it by 
persecution \ if it is wrong, you will by persecution help to 
keep it alive, for you give its adherents the glory of mar- 
tyrdom. But whether right or wrong, so long as a man's 
devotion to his religion does not interfere with the civil 
rights and liberties of others, he is to be let alone. His 
conscience is a sacred thing, and he has a right to say to all 
civil governments, " Hands off! that is for my God, and not 
for you." But that was precisely what Peter said ; and so, 
rightly viewed, the world owes far more to the ringing notes 
of Peter than to the timid, cautious, Micawber-like policy 
which was advocated by Gamaliel. 

In reviewing the section of sacred history over which we 
have passed, let us learn, in the first place, to keep the con- 
science for Christ. All through I have been remembering 
the words of John Bunyan : when condemned to three 
months' imprisonment for preaching the Gospel, and told 
that if he did not then promise to abstain from the course 
which he had been pursuing he must be banished from the 
realm, he nobly replied, " I am at a point with you ; if I were 
out of prison again to day, I would preach the Gospel again 
to-morrow, by the help of God." Nor can I forget the noble 
army of those who, all through the centuries, have sought to 
obey God, even at the forfeit of their liberties and lives. 

But that is not the department in which our danger lies. 
What we need to-day is to keep conscience for God in the 
ordinary affairs of life commonly called secular. Let us see 
to it, then, that in the shop as well as in the Church, on the 



250 Peter, the Apostle. 

exchange as well as in the ecclesiastical assembly, we act 
out the dictates of conscience as enlightened by the Word 
and Spirit of God. Say not, in the cant phrase of multi- 
tudes, that you "can not afford to keep a conscience." Can 
not afford to keep a conscience ! What ! is it then come to 
this ? Shall this divine faculty be weighed in the balance 
with silver and gold ? and is the fear that you may lose prof- 
its to keep you from doing that which you know and feel to 
be your duty? What is gold compared with the assurance 
that you have done that which God would have you ? What 
will whole mines of wealth and whole burnt-offerings of hu- 
man applause avail if, after all, you are despised by yourself, 
and your conscience upbraids you with meanness and cor- 
ruption. Rather would I enjoy a crust, in the consciousness 
of unfaltering allegiance to my God, than roll in affluence, 
with remorse gnawing at my heart; and he may well em- 
brace the darkness of the dungeon, or the death of the scaf- 
fold, who is only sure of having a good God, a good con- 
science, and a good cause. Whatever, then, thy conscience, 
enlightened by God's Word, lays down, be sure thou follow 
it ; for if thou canst not answer for thy conduct at the bar 
of conscience, how wilt thou answer for it at the bar of 
God? 

But we may learn, in the second place, that while con- 
tending for conscience' sake we may expect to be assisted 
by God. In the case before us, he sent his angel to open 
the prison doors for his servants, and sustained them in giv- 
ing their testimony before the Council. Nor are these soli- 
tary instances of his favor. As we shall see, Peter was sim- 
ilarly delivered from the fury of Herod at a later day; and 
we know how Paul and Silas were at length brought out of 
the Philippian dungeon. These were miraculous instances, 
no doubt, but things almost as wonderful have occurred in 
God's ordinary providence. 



Before the Council Again. 251 

I have already alluded to John Bunyan. Take the fol- 
lowing incident from his life by Offor, prefixed to the col- 
lected edition of his works : " He had at times, while a 
prisoner, an extraordinary degree of liberty : like Joseph 
in Egypt, some of his jailers committed all to his hands. 
There can be little doubt but that he went from the prison 
to preach in the villages or woods, and at one time went 
to London to visit his admiring friends ; but this coming to 
the ears of the justices, the humane jailer had well-nigh lost 
his place, and for some time he was not permitted to look 
out at the door. When this had worn off, he had again the 
opportunity of visiting his Church and preaching by stealth. 
It is said that many of the Baptist congregations in Bedford- 
shire owe their origin to his midnight preaching. Upon one 
occasion, having been permitted to go out and visit his fam- 
ily, with whom he intended to spend the night, long before 
morning he felt so uneasy that at a very late hour he went 
back to the prison. Information was given to a neighbor- 
ing clerical magistrate that there was strong suspicion of 
Bunyan having broken prison. At midnight he sent a mes- 
senger to the jail, that he might be a witness against the 
merciful keeper. On his arrival he demanded, 'Are all the 
prisoners safe ?' The answer was ' Yes.' — ' Is John Bunyan 
safe?' 'Yes.' — 'Let me see him.' He was called up and 
confronted with the astonished witness, and all passed off 
well. His kind-hearted jailer said to him, 'You may go out 
when you will, for you know much better when to return 
than I can tell you.'"* We do not call that a miracle, yet 
who shall dare to say that an angel had nothing to do with 
it? And in any case when we are suffering for our adher- 
ence to God, we may be sure that somehow he will come 
near us with his help. If in no other way, we may rely upon 

* " Works of John Bunyan," by George Offor, vol. iii., lix. 



252 Peter, the Apostle, 

it that he will fill our hearts with joy, so that his gladness 
will be our strength. 

It has been remarked of the era of the Reformation in 
Europe, and of the Covenant in Scotland, that those who 
suffered for conscience' sake were invariably full of exalted 
assurance as to their present acceptance with God and their 
future glory in heaven. No doubts, or fears, or misgivings 
were permitted to disturb them. So true it is that "God 
stayeth his rough wind in the day of his east wind." If he 
requires us to endure in one way, he will give us enjoyment 
in another. 

So let us adhere to him at every sacrifice. He will be for 
us, if we will be for him. And in the end, whatever may 
happen, we shall be " more than conquerors through him 
that loved us." Give us but the assurance of his favor, and 
of eternal glory with himself at last, and what can be put 
into comparison with that? Who would not rather be the 
despised apostle shivering in the cold, dark, damp Mammer- 
tine, yet able to say, " I know whom I have believed, and 
am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have commit- 
ted to him against that day ; henceforth there is laid up for 
me a crown of righteousness " — than the imperial Nero on 
his throne, hated by his contemporaries, and gibbeted for- 
ever on the page of history as the monster of monarchs ? 
For earthly glory and for heavenly immortality, for peace 
within and for blessedness above, the only specific is loyalty 
to conscience and to God. Come, then, raise with me again 
the shout of high resolve and holy consecration : " We ought 
to obey God rather than men •" and by his grace, we will ! 
we will ! 



XVII. 

SIMON MAGUS. 

Acts viii., 5-25. 

SINCE the second appearance of the apostles before the 
Council, many events fraught with important results 
have occurred in the infant society. 

As, perhaps, might have been foreseen, the distribution of 
the benevolent fund by men who had so many other and 
more exacting matters to attend to, led to dissatisfaction on 
the part of some who supposed that, because they were Jews 
of foreign birth, they had been neglected. This difficulty 
was met in the wisest manner by the apostles, who embraced 
the opportunity to secure the election of seven men who 
should have it for their special business to look after the 
"daily ministration. " Nor was the Church itself lacking in 
prudence in the matter ; for as the complaint had come from 
the Hellenistic Jews, the brethren selected men who, if we 
may judge from their names, were all Hellenists, under whose 
administration of the fund the confidence of the aggrieved 
party would be restored. 

But though the special duty of the deacons was to attend 
to the "serving of tables," they were not debarred from 
preaching the Gospel ; and one of their number, Stephen by 
name, became very energetic and successful in his discus- 
sions with the members of several foreign synagogues in Je- 
rusalem. So far as we can gather from the record, he was 
the first of the Christian converts who had any clear antici- 
pation of the facts that Christianity was to supersede Juda- 



254 Peter, the Apostle. 

ism, and to spread over the earth, including in it Gentiles on 
equal terms with Jews. These opinions he brought out in 
the course of his disputations, fortifying them with so much 
argument taken from the Old Testament itself, that his op- 
ponents " were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit 
with which he spake." 

But in setting forth such views he roused all Jewish ex- 
clusiveness against him ; and, as the result, he was brought 
before the Council, whence, after he had made an address 
replete with argument put forth under the guise of history, 
he was taken out and stoned to death. 

His was a brief, bright record ; and we think of him now 
as of a young soldier, the first to fall on some great battle- 
day when truth and freedom are hanging on the issue. He 
was a hero before he was a martyr, but the sanctity of the 
cause in which he suffered has embalmed his history, so that 
to-day his name and fame are as familiar as they were to 
those who had seen his face and listened to his words. 

On that memorable day, a youth was present named Saul 
of Tarsus, who was in himself an impersonation of the fury 
of the persecution, and in his history an illustration of the 
indestructibility of truth. He was about the last man there, 
who would have been supposed to have any leanings to the 
new religion ; yet before long he became a convert, and, 
taking up the mantle of the ascended Stephen, he received 
a commission "to preach among the Gentiles the unsearch- 
able riches of Christ." Not yet, however, had he been con- 
fronted by the Lord in the way. He was now "breathing 
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the 
Lord ;" and if you multiply his fury a thousand-fold or more, 
you will understand how it became necessary for all the 
prominent members of the new society to leave Jerusalem 
for the time. The Master himself said to the first evangel- 
ists, "When they persecute you in one city, flee ye into an- 



Simon Magus. 255 

other ;" so they were scattered abroad, and wherever they 
went they preached the Word. Till this time, indeed, they 
had restricted their ministrations to the Holy City ; and it 
does not appear that they would have thought of going else- 
where, had they not been driven out by persecution. Thus 
good is made to come out of evil ; and not seldom God uses 
the cruelties of the ungodly as a scourge of small cords 
wherewith to chastise his own people, and send them forth 
to the performance of neglected work. 

One of those thus driven from the Holy City was Philip, 
the deacon, whose labors are specially particularized because 
they prepared the way for the admission of Gentiles into 
the Church. He found a refuge in Samaria among that 
peculiar people who were neither Jews nor Gentiles, but oc- 
cupied a middle position, and dwelt in an isolation which 
was owing as much perhaps to their own self-conceit as to 
their neighbors' arrogance. They were the descendants of 
those colonists from Babylon, Cuthah, Hamath, Ava, and 
Sepharvaim, whom the King of Assyria planted in the land 
of Israel when he carried the ten tribes into captivity.* 

At their first settlement these idolaters worshiped their 
own divinities, but afterward, on account of a plague of lions, 
they procured a Jewish priest to teach them, as they said, 
" the manner of the God of the land ;" and under his guid- 
ance they added to their other religious services the worship 
of Jehovah. As the sacred chronicler has put it, " they 
feared Jehovah, and served their own gods." They received, 
perhaps from their priestly teacher, a copy of the law of Mo- 
ses, and that was the only part of the Old Testament Script- 
ures which they recognized. They had built a temple on 
Mount Gerizim, in which they offered sacrifices ; and though 
they observed the same festivals as did the Jews, and ex- 

* 2 Kings xvii., 24-34. 



256 Peter, the Apostle. 

pected the same Messiah, yet from the date when Nehemiah 
rejected their offer of alliance at the rebuilding of the wall 
of Jerusalem, they had been at constant feud with their 
neighbors. But as the Lord Jesus himself, a few years be- 
fore the events which we are now rehearsing, had preached 
to the inhabitants of Sychar, Philip felt warranted in pro- 
claiming the Gospel to the people of the place in which he 
was. Some, indeed, have supposed that the city visited by 
him at this time was the same as that in which our Lord had 
spent two memorable and successful days. But though the 
expression is indefinite, and may mean any city of Samaria, 
the probability is that the capital city is intended. In any 
case, the labors of Philip were attended with signal results ; 
for " the people with one accord gave heed to his words," 
and what with the gladness of those who had found salva- 
tion for their souls, and the gratitude of those whose bodily 
diseases had been healed by his miracles, " there was great 
joy in that city." 

Among those who professed to be converted to the faith, 
and received baptism at his hands, was one who belonged to 
a class of men who were signally, nay, even shamefully, prev- 
alent in that strange transition age, in which so many ele- 
ments were seething. As Neander has admirably put it, 
U A lively, but indefinite, obscure excitement of the religious 
feeling always exposes men to a variety of dangerous delu- 
sions. This was the case with the Samaritans. As at that 
time, in other parts of the East, a similar indefinite longing aft- 
er a new communication from heaven — an ominous restless- 
ness in the minds of men such as generally precedes great 
changes in the history of mankind — was diffused abroad, 
so this indistinct anxiety did not fail to lead astray and to 
deceive many who were not rightly prepared for it, while they 
adopted a false method of allaying it. A mixture of uncon- 
scious self-deception and intentional falsehood moved cer 



Simon Magus. 257 

tain Goetae, who with mystical ideas, proceeding from an 
amalgamation of Jewish, Oriental, and Grecian elements, 
boasted of a special connection with the invisible world, and 
by taking advantage of the occult powers of nature, and by 
various arts of conjuration, excited the astonishment of cred- 
ulous people, and obtained credit for their boastful preten- 
sions. To this class of men belonged a Jewish or Samari- 
tan Goes named Simon, who, by his extraordinary magical 
powers, so fascinated the people, that they said he must be 
more than man ; that he was the great power which emana- 
ted from the invisible God by which was brought forth the 
universe, now appearing on earth in a bodily form."* 

Before Philip had made his appearance in Samaria, this 
man had obtained a very large following. But as he who 
digs deepest gets the water from the spring, so he who deals 
with the undermost necessities of humanity must always in 
the long run have the allegiance of men. We can not won- 
der, therefore, that the people laid aside the superficialities 
of Simon for the satisfying truths which Philip taught them ; 
and it is quite in keeping with the nature of such a man as 
Simon was, that when he saw himself deserted he followed 
the multitude to see what he could make thereby. 

Such was the condition of things in Samaria when the 
apostles, hearing of Philip's work, sent Peter and John to 
visit the new converts, not, as I judge, because they were in 
any doubt of the propriety of the course which Philip had 
pursued, but rather in order that these two might bestow 
upon the Samaritan disciples the miraculous gifts of the Holy 
Ghost, and so make them equal in privilege to the brethren 
in Jerusalem. 

It is to be remembered that in so speaking we refer ex- 
clusively to the extraordinary operations of the Holy Ghost, 

* Neander's " Planting and Training," vol. i., pp. 57, 58. 



258 Peter, the Apostle. 

consisting in gifts of healing, prophecy, and the like, and 
not at all to the ordinary workings of his grace; for without 
these conversion would have been impossible. But these 
were altogether independent of the presence of the apostles, 
and were enjoyed by every believer; while the miraculous en- 
dowments were bestowed only by the laying-on of the hands 
of the apostles. When, therefore, our Episcopalian brethren 
refer to this incident in primitive Church history in support 
of their service of confirmation, as if it had here received 
the sanction of apostolic authority, they are confounding 
two things which are entirely distinct. It may be right and 
proper to have some special observances connected with the 
reception of young converts into the membership of the 
Church, and each society of believers is at liberty, under 
the guidance of the Holy Ghost, to make its own form for 
that purpose ; but to claim apostolic authority for the laying- 
on of episcopal hands on such occasions seems to me both 
unwarranted and unwise, since it was in their case invaria- 
bly accompanied with the communication of the extraordina- 
ry gifts of the Holy Ghost. We have apostolic authority for 
leaving each Church to its own choice on all such matters ; 
and so no particular form should be exclusively set up, for, 
in reference to all these things, "the Church of Christ is the 
freest society in the world." 

In the case before us, the result of the laying-on of the 
apostles' hands was that the individuals thus distinguished 
became possessed of the power of working miracles in 
some form or other. It does not appear that Simon re- 
ceived the gift ; but the fact that Peter and John were able 
to communicate such energy to others awoke his astonish- 
ment and envy. He had never really perceived the spiritu- 
ality of the Gospel. He had gone in with the new move- 
ment merely to follow the multitude, and see what he could 
make for himself. In his eyes all religious teachers were 



Simon Magus. 259 

alike impostors ; for he measured them all by his own 
standard. Perhaps in his past life he had purchased the 
power to perform many a trick from poor practitioners in 
the magical art, even as now a professor of legerdemain will 
pay a high price for initiation into the mystery of some new 
feat. And so, thinking that Peter stood on the same plane 
with himself, and was only a more accomplished sorcerer 
than he was, he offered him money, saying, "Give me also 
this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive 
the Holy Ghost." 

The proposal was in the highest degree dishonoring to 
God. It put the operations of the Holy Ghost on a level 
with the deceptions of men ; it proposed to make merchan- 
dise of that which was the richest gift of the Divine good- 
ness ; it wanted to turn to individual aggrandizement that 
special blessing which God had bestowed upon the Church 
to assist its progress in the world. Therefore Peter was 
utterly shocked by the blasphemy of the man, and exclaim- 
ed, with holy indignation, " Thy money perish with thee, be- 
cause thou hast thought that the gift of God may be pur- 
chased with money." Then, using this opportunity as an 
occasion for leading the man to a full knowledge of himself, 
he gave him to understand that, as his action indicated, he 
had no real interest in Christ or his salvation. He used 
great fervor of speech, saying, " Thou hast neither part nor 
lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of 
God ;" and, again, " I perceive that thou art in the gall of 
bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." But as he might 
not yet be beyond all hope, he urged him to repent of his 
wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps "the thought of thine 
heart may be forgiven thee." This so terrified the sorcerer 
that he cried, "Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these 
things which ye have spoken come upon me ;" and with that 
appeal he disappears from the sacred page, and we hear of 



260 Peter, the Apostle. 

him in Scripture no more. But he is by Neander supposed 
to be the same person who, some ten or fifteen years after 
this date, is found in the company of Felix, the Roman proc- 
urator, and by whose immoral and deceitful practices Dru- 
silla, the sister of Agrippa, was enticed away from her own 
husband, Azizus, and induced to become the paramour of 
Felix. Irenaeus, one of the earliest fathers of the Church, 
has written of him in this manner : " This man was honored 
by many as a god, and taught that it was he who had ap- 
peared among the Jews as the Son, among the Samaritans 
as the Father, and among other nations as the Holy Ghost ; 
and that he was the most sublime virtue, or Father of all, by 
whatever name he was known among men. Having brought 
from the city of Tyre an infamous woman, called Helena, he 
carried her about with him, affirming that she was the first 
conception of his mind, the mother of all beings, by whom 
in the beginning he formed angels and archangels. He per- 
suaded those who believed in him and this woman that they 
might live as they pleased, and so 'his foll6wers led flagitious 
lives, practiced magic, and adored the images of Simon and 
Helena.' "* If all this be true, then there was no real re- 
pentance exercised by him, and so he passes away with the 
doom of the blasphemer upon him, leaving a name which 
lives only in the designation of the vilest traffic which the 
Church of Christ has ever seen, namely, the buying and sell- 
ing of the sacred office of the cure of souls. 

In reviewing this interesting chapter of primitive Church 
history, one or two practical reflections are suggested to us. 

We are reminded, for one thing, that when God's people 
neglect their duty, he finds means of stirring them up to its 
performance. Before his ascension, the Lord said to his dis- 

* Iren. contra Haeres., lib. i., cap. xx., quoted by Dick, in " Lectures on 
the Acts," p. 144. 



Simon Magus. 261 

ciples, " Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem 
and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
parts of the earth." But up to this time there is no record 
of any attempt to carry the Gospel outside of Jerusalem. 
True, the apostles and first preachers of the cross would 
come in contact with many strangers at the three great an- 
nual festivals observed in the Holy City ; but still that was 
not a full obedience of the Lord's command ; and it does 
not appear that in these first years they had formed any 
plan for the carrying-on of missionary operations outside of 
Jerusalem. But just then the persecution arose about Ste- 
phen ; and, as the storm separates the seed from its parent 
stem, and carries it far away to other localities, so the as- 
saults of the enemies of the faith were made the means of 
spreading it in other places. We can not but admire in all 
this the wisdom of the Lord ; and yet there is here also a 
lesson which ought never to be forgotten by the members 
of the Christian Church. Neglect of duty will surely bring 
some sort of punishment in its train ; and as the Church is 
designed to be aggressive, we may rely upon it, that when 
either home or foreign missionary effort is abated by it, ca- 
lamity of some sort is at hand. Either a persecution will 
arise, as in this instance, which will scatter Christians to their 
work ; or internal dissensions will make their appearance, 
and the society which should be the abode of peace will be 
rent asunder by strife and debate ; or worldliness will come 
in like a flood, and sweep away its members into open un- 
godliness ; or in some other manner "the candlestick will 
be removed out of its place." The safety and happiness of 
the Church depend thus, under God, on its efficiency as an 
aggressive force upon the world. Stagnation is death. The 
physical philosopher tells us that heat is only a form of mo- 
tion ; and the warmth of Christian love is only one of the 
forms of Christian activity. The pool is very soon corrupt, 



262 Peter, the Apostle. 

and becomes the home of noisy frogs ; but the river filters 
itself into purity as it flows, and sings the while a sweet song 
in the ear of God. So the church that is doing nothing in 
the missionary enterprise, either for those who dwell in the 
streets and lanes beside it, or for those in other lands who 
are sitting in the region and shadow of death, will, ere long, 
be full of croakers, and all connected with it will become cal- 
lous and selfish ; while that which is constantly at work for 
Christ and for the world will be a centre of happiness for its 
members and a source of joy to all around. Aggression on 
the world is the safety-valve of the Church ; and when that 
is closed up, then look out for an explosion ! 

We are reminded, again, that the reception of the Gospel 
invariably produces joy. What words are these, "There 
was great joy in that city !" Nor is this a solitary instance 
in which such terms are employed. Last Lord's day even- 
ing we saw that the disciples actually rejoiced that they were 
counted worthy to suffer shame for Jesus' name ; and if you 
glance down the chapter from which our theme for to-night 
has been taken, you will find it recorded of the Ethiopian 
treasurer, that, after he had been baptized by Philip, "he 
went on his way rejoicing." So, again, we read that "the 
fruit of the Spirit is joy ;" # and Paul prays for his Roman 
friends that the God of hope might fill them " with all joy 
and peace in believing."! The Gospel thus produces joy. 
I know that a different impression is prevalent. It is sup- 
posed by many that religion is a melancholy thing, and that 
faith in Jesus Christ has a tendency to make men gloomy, 
morose, and sad. 

Now, there are two ways of accounting for this erroneous 
view of the matter. It is due, in some, to the fact that all 
they know about religion is conviction of sin. When they 



* Gal. v., 22. t Rom. xv., 13. 



Simon Magus. 263 

think upon the subject at all, they are immediately impressed 
with their guilt ; they are filled with fear at the mention of 
God ; and trembling gets hold upon them when they hear 
about the final judgment. But that is not the full Christian 
experience ; for the belief of the Gospel allays all these fears, 
and gives peace to the troubled soul. Hence, they who call 
Christianity a melancholy thing are judging of it only from 
those workings of conscience which reveal the necessity for 
salvation, and which the acceptance of the Lord Jesus as a 
Saviour entirely removes. And the view they take is refuted 
by the recorded experiences of some of its most eminent dis- 
ciples. What, for example, can be more genial and joyous 
than the home-life of Martin Luther, as that comes out in 
his table-talk ? What an abode of happiness was the house 
of Thomas Chalmers ! And who that ever heard Thomas 
Guthrie laugh could doubt the genuineness of his joy? 
The mention of that last name reminds me of the fact 
that the autobiography of Dr. Guthrie came into my hands 
at the same time as that of John Stuart Mill. The one 
was the sunniest, cheeriest, mirthfulest memoir I ever read ; 
the other was the darkest, saddest, and most dismal work 
it has ever been my lot to peruse. To me they were 
typical instances. Let the one stand as an illustration 
of the fact that " true piety is cheerful as the day ;" let 
the other indicate how cold and dark the world of atheism 
must be. 

But another reason for the impression that the Gospel is 
a melancholy thing, is to be found in the fact that many of 
its disciples misrepresent it, and are morose and moody. 
They go about almost as if it were a sin to laugh, and when 
they do allow themselves to give way to mirth, they only 
"grin horribly a ghastly smile." They will always play the 
part of the mummy at the feast table, and generally they 
make an opportunity for remarking that " we never read of 



264 Peter, the Apostle. 

the Saviour laughing." Now, all that is to caricature Chris- 
tianity. The Gospel makes men earnest, but never misera- 
ble ; and there are few things which do more to attract dis- 
ciples than the manifestation of cheerfulness. " The joy of 
the Lord " is the Christian's strength, and when that joy is 
seen by others it commends the Gospel to their acceptance. 
Why, then, should we not be joyous? Who can better af- 
ford to be cheerful than he whose sins are forgiven, and who 
has the assurance that He who sits upon the throne of heav- 
en is his elder brother ? " You seem a happy man," said 
one to Duncan Matheson, the Scottish evangelist, as he sat 
singing in a railway-carriage. " Yes," was the reply, " I can 
not be but happy ; I am safe for time, and safe for eternity." 
This introduction led to further conversation, which ended 
in Matheson's being called to preach at the residence of the 
gentleman who had thus accosted him, and it is the testimo- 
ny of his biographer that his cheerfulness was often more 
powerful to win souls than were words of persuasive elo- 
quence.* Friends, let not the lesson be lost upon us : if we 
wish to be happy, let us become Christians ; and if we be- 
come Christians, let us be happy Christians, that so our very 
cheerfulness may be a power in the hands of the Holy Spir- 
it for attracting souls to Christ. 

We are reminded by this history, further, that in all times 
of religious interest we may expect to meet with cases of 
hypocrisy. Every revival has its Simon Magus ; yet sad as 
such a fact is, that does not dishonor the work as a whole. 
You are familiar with the saying that "hypocrisy is the 
homage which vice renders to virtue ;" and if the genuine 
money had not a certain value, there would be no counter- 
feiters. So the appearance of a hypocrite in connection 

* " Life and Labors of Duncan Matheson," by the Rev. John Mac- 
pherson, p. 305. 



Simon Magus. 265 

with such a work of grace as this at Samaria is only an in- 
cidental corroboration of the genuineness of the movement. 
Now this ought to comfort us when cases of hypocrisy come 
before us. They are sad, exceedingly ; yet they are only the 
shadows cast by the greatness of the Christian character as 
a whole ; and when we hear of such cases as that which oc- 
curred the other day at Boston, when one who had been a 
Methodist clergyman for years absconded, after committing 
a series of the most terrible forgeries, let us not think the 
worse of Christianity because of them. The Christian relig- 
ion rests on Christ, not on any professed disciple of his ; 
and when such a catastrophe occurs, do not suppose that the 
foundation of the Church is giving way. The only thing 
which is sinking is the foundation on which the man's de- 
ception stood. That is all ! He was always resting on the 
sand, and the flood of covetousness has swept him away. 
Had he been building on the rock, it would have been oth- 
erwise. 

Neither let us imagine that, because a revival has devel- 
oped a few hypocrisies, therefore it is all a sham. After the 
flood you will see a few dry sticks left high and dry upon 
the branches of the trees that line the river's bank ; yet it 
would be a mistake to judge of the effects of the flood by 
them. These were only the incidental accompaniments of 
it ; but the fertilizing influences that came from it, and the 
purifying effect it had upon the city through which it ran, 
are things which can not be so easily discovered. Yet 
they are none the less real because of that. When, there- 
fore, our honored brethren begin their work for God in this 
city* to-morrow, let us not go into it hunting for hypocrites, 
but rather desirous by every means in our power to turn 

* The reference here is to the work of Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey in 
the Hippodrome, 

12 



266 Peter, the Apostle. 

their visit to the fullest possible account for Jesus and his 
cause. 

Finally, we are reminded by this history that they who 
mock at the mercy of God by their hypocrisy in such sea- 
sons of privilege are in special danger of becoming aggra- 
vated sinners. What a dreadful after -history was that of 
Simon Magus ! and how deeply suggestive it is of the fact 
that it is an awful thing for a man to come into direct and 
immediate contact with Christ and his salvation ! Either he 
accepts that salvation, and passes on to happiness and glo 
ry, or he rejects it, and descends to still deeper degradation 
than he had ever before touched. The Ethiopian treasurer, 
after Philip preached Christ to him, "went on his way re- 
joicing ;" but the young man who came to Jesus, and re- 
fused to do as he commanded, " went away sorrowful." Ah ! 
the pungency of that sorrow ! A new element of bitterness 
had dropped into his heart, because a new sort of guilt had 
been incurred by him. So, here, Simon became a more mis- 
erable and abandoned wretch than ever. He asked Peter's 
prayers indeed, but he did not apparently pray for himself; 
and thus he is here in the ancient narrative held up for a 
warning to the Church in every age. Let the hypocrites 
among us learn the lesson for themselves. It is a fearful 
thing to make merchandise of religion ; and if you are giv- 
ing money to the Church only that she may cover you with 
respectability and give you a fairer platform for the prose- 
cution of your worldly calling, you are repeating in another 
lorm the guilt of Simon here, and will perhaps at last make 
as dreadful and as disastrous a shipwreck as he did. Re- 
member this : baptism will not save you, for Simon Magus 
was baptized ; a profession of Christian discipleship will not 
save you, for Simon Magus made such a profession ; an in- 
terested astonishment at the preaching of the Word and its 
effects will not save you, for Simon Magus " wondered be- 



Simon Magus. 267 

holding the miracles and signs which were done." Nothing 
will save you but that regeneration, that change of heart, 
which Christ alone can produce by his Holy Spirit. Rest 
in nothing short of that ; and let the story of this ancient 
sorcerer only give greater emphasis to your prayer, " Create 
in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit with- 
in me." 



XVIII. 

ENEAS AND DORCAS. 

Acts ix., 32-42. 

BETWEEN the interview with Simon Magus and the in- 
cidents now to be considered by us, the sacred histo- 
rian puts the record of the conversion of Saul, who was aft- 
erward called Paul. That event occurred in the neighbor- 
hood of Damascus, from which city the new convert went 
to Arabia, whence, after spending probably some eighteen 
months, he returned to Damascus. There he began to labor 
with so much enthusiasm that the Jews took counsel to slay 
him, and so, escaping by night from the city, he came again 
to Jerusalem. But, remembering his former bitterness 
against them, the brethren there were afraid of him, imagin- 
ing that his profession of discipleship was a ruse for the 
purpose of entrapping them in some new snare. By the kind 
offices of Barnabas, however, he was introduced to the apos- 
tles ; and when he began to labor among the Grecians, dis- 
puting with them after the manner of Stephen, they sought 
to get rid of him as they had done of the protomartyr. But 
God had more work for him to do in the world, and he re- 
ceived a commission to depart from the city, with the assur- 
ance that he would be sent among the Gentiles. So he went 
to Tarsus, there to wait upon and watch for the directions of 
God's providence. 

Thus, for the first time, Peter and Paul met and took 
counsel together. We learn from Paul's letter to the Gala- 
tians that his sojourn in Jerusalem on this occasion lasted 



Eneas and Dorcas. 269 

only fifteen days.* But it was long enough to give each an 
admiration of the other, and to establish a cordial under- 
standing between them. At first, indeed, Peter might be re- 
served to one who had been so pronounced an adversary, 
and so fierce a persecutor of the faith. But his was not a 
nature to harbor suspicion \ and when he saw what Paul real- 
ly was, he would give him all his heart. He would hear the 
wondrous story of Paul's conversion, and, as seems likely 
also, the account of his appointment to the apostleship, and 
of the revelations which he had received directly and imme- 
diately from the Lord, while Paul would learn of Peter's po- 
sition in the Church, and of the work which had been spread- 
ing through Judea and Samaria. We wonder if at this time 
either of these men had any idea of the magnitude of the work 
in which they were both engaged, or of the great things which 
they were both to do and to suffer for Christ's name's sake. 
This, at least, we do know, that the world around them was 
altogether unconscious of their pre-eminence. How true it is, 
that the greatest ones that have ever lived were hardly recog- 
nized at all by their contemporaries ! At Jerusalem, in those 
days, if it had been asked whose name was most likely to be 
remembered in history, some would have specified Gamaliel, 
and some perhaps would have named Annas, the high-priest ; 
but now the one is principally remembered as the early in- 
structor of Paul, and the other as the persecutor of Peter. 
So, to-day, the men who will live in history are not to be 
sought for in our senates, or among those whose names are 
at present most loudly trumpeted by the heralds of fame. It 
will turn out at last that they have been obscurely toiling 
in the midst of us, hardly acknowledged by the leaders of 
society, and accounted, perhaps, even by those who knew 
them, fanatical and foolish. 

* Gal. i., 18. 



270 Peter, the Apostle. 

Immediately after mentioning the fact that Saul had re- 
tired to Tarsus, the historian says, " Then had the churches 
rest throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and were ed- 
ified : and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort 
of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied ;" and it has been sup- 
posed by some that the cessation of persecution was caused 
by the conversion of Saul. That, however, is to give Paul a 
prominence which did not belong to him. His conversion 
had really occurred two years before ; and if it had been the 
cause of the churches' rest, the description of it would have 
been connected with his first departure from Jerusalem. 
The true account of the matter seems to be that the Jews 
were at this time so much engrossed with other affairs, that 
they had no leisure to persecute the followers of Jesus. For 
we have come now to about the date a.d. 39, which puts us 
in the reign of Caius Caesar, commonly called Caligula ; and 
Josephus tells us that he had claimed divine honors, and 
had ordered Petronius to set up his statue in the Temple of 
Jerusalem. This naturally raised a terrible commotion not 
only in the city, but throughout the land ; and in their anx- 
iety to keep the holy place from defilement, the people lost 
for the moment all interest in the movements of the disci- 
ples of Christ. But when, through the intercession of Herod 
Agrippa, the order of Caligula had been rescinded, and 
Claudius had succeeded to the imperial throne, we shall see 
that the persecution broke out anew. 

Meanwhile, however, there was an interval of tranquillity, 
and a change of circumstances brought with it for Peter a 
change of work. While the storm is raging, the mariner's 
chief attention is given to the safety of the ship, and the post 
of the officer is on the deck ; but when the wind has gone 
down, he can go below and make minute examination of the 
cargo and the hull, and do any thing which may be needed 
in the hold. So while persecution was hot at Jerusalem, 



Eneas and Dorcas. 271 

Peter's place was at Jerusalem ; but when an interval of re- 
lief was enjoyed, he took the opportunity of making an ap- 
ostolic visitation of the different churches which had been 
founded in Palestine. 

We have no account of the planting of these churches. 
We can not tell whether they were all founded by such 
missionary journeys as that of Philip to Samaria, or wheth- 
er they owed their beginning to the labors of some ear- 
nest believers, who, having been converted at Jerusalem on 
the occasion of some festival, returned to their places of 
abode, bearing with them the good seed of the Word. All 
we know is, that churches were already in existence in each 
of the three districts into which Palestine was divided. 

Now let us pause a moment to take in the full significance 
of such a fact. Recollect that we stand at about the year 
39 or 40 of the Christian era ; but as Christ was born, as 
all are now agreed, four years before the commencement of 
the era which has been called by his name, and as his cru- 
cifixion occurred when he was thirty-three years of age, this 
would make his death fall in the year a.d. 29. We are here, 
therefore, at a point ten years subsequent to the death and 
resurrection of Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit. 
In that decade thousands were converted at Jerusalem, and 
these churches in Galilee, Samaria, and Judea came into ex- 
istence. 

Now, if we were right in inferring from the statement of 
the historian which we considered in our last lecture, that 
the disciples in Jerusalem had largely neglected missionary 
work outside of that city, until by persecution they were 
driven to perform it, then it will follow that the greater 
part of this progress was made in about three years. For 
seven years the efforts of the apostles centred in Jerusalem ; 
for the next three years many of their disciples went ev- 
erywhere preaching the Word, and as the result behold these 



272 Peter, the Apostle. 

churches ! Here, then, in the very neighborhood where the 
facts to which they testified were said to have occurred, the 
first and greatest successes of the preachers of the Gospel 
were achieved. In the very locality where their falsehoods, 
if they had been falsehoods, could have been most easily 
detected, they made their first converts, and that not by 
twos or threes, but by thousands. Nay, more ; in the face 
of bitterest opposition and fiercest persecution, these suc- 
cesses were achieved by men who had no world-power at 
their command, and who were unlearned and ignorant. 
How shall we account for all this on any other supposition 
than that the Gospel is true? Some tell us, indeed, that 
these beautiful biographies which we call the Gospels are 
mainly mythical and legendary, and that they were created 
by the churches in the first days of their devotion. But 
what created the churches ? Every body admits that the 
churches existed before the books of the New Testament 
were written ; but what created the churches ? What but 
the truth of those well-attested facts that Jesus died and 
rose again from the dead ? 

In the course of his journeyings throughout all quarters, 
Peter came to Lydda. This was a town situated within the 
limits of the tribe of Ephraim, about nine miles east of Jop- 
pa, and on the road between that sea-port and Jerusalem. 
It was called in Hebrew Lod, or Lud ; and a few years sub- 
sequent to the date of our narrative it was burned by Gal- 
lus on his march against Jerusalem, but it must have been 
speedily rebuilt, for we find it under the name of Diospolis 
in the reigns of Severus and Caracalla. In the sixth cent- 
ury it was the seat of a bishopric ; and here, according to 
tradition, that George was born of whom the mythical story 
of the dragon is told, and who is styled, in the half-heathen- 
ish parlance of many, the patron saint of England. The 
town is now in ruins, and the tomb of St. George is shown, 



Eneas and Dorcas. 273 

among its attractions, to the traveler; but to me the place 
would be a thousand-fold more interesting from its associa- 
tion with this visit of the Apostle Peter. 

We are not told how long the apostle abode in Lydda, 
nor are any particulars of his interviews with the mem- 
bers of the Church there preserved for us. The evangelist 
narrates only one outstanding miracle which was wrought 
through his instrumentality. He found in the city a poor 
paralytic named Eneas, who had been for eight years suf- 
fering from the palsy, and he raised him from his couch. 
The history is exceedingly brief, and many points concern- 
ing which we should have liked information are left in dark- 
ness. Thus we could have wished to ask, whether this man 
was a Christian before Peter's visit— whether he had him- 
self requested to be healed — how Peter was brought into 
contact with him — and what, generally, were the surround- 
ings of the miracle ? But all such inquiries are vain. We 
know only that Eneas had lain in helplessness for eight 
years. Eight years ! Ah ! how much we have to be thank- 
ful for in continued health and strength, and how little we 
think of these blessings until we have lost them ! What 
weary days and nights he must have had ! And as they toJd 
him of the lame man who had been healed at the gate of the 
Temple, and of the sick ones who had been cured as the 
shadow of Peter fell on them, while he was passing on the 
street, how he must have longed to see the great apostle ! 
But now Peter had come to his own chamber ; and as his 
eyes rested on the loving face of the man of God, he felt 
that now, indeed, he was about to be delivered, not by the 
death which he had been so long anticipating, but by the 
return of that health which he had lost so many years be- 
fore. Peter said to him, " Eneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee 
whole." What simple words are these ! yet who can tell 
what the feelings of Eneas were as he listened ! He knew 



274 Peter, the Apostle. 

that strength was passing into him. He felt a tingling life 
in those limbs which had been paralyzed so long ; a strange 
sensation ran along his nerves ; and ere Peter had finished 
the command, " Arise, and make thy bed," he was able to 
obey it, and rose at once to fold up his couch. A wonder ! 
and yet not a wonder. A wonder when we look at Peter, 
the human instrument ; but no wonder at all when we think 
of Jesus Christ, the Divine agent. It is divine power that 
works in daily order, and divine choice can alter that order 
in an individual instance. Hence, let but the Deity of Jesus 
Christ be granted, and the whole matter is explained. 

So felt, and so reasoned, the inhabitants of the town, and 
of the entire district of Saron that lay between it and Joppa; 
for when they saw the man whom Christ had healed, they 
turned unto the Lord. They were convinced of his Divinity 
and Messiahship, and they received as the Gospel to them- 
selves, taking them only in a spiritual sense, the words which 
Peter spake to Eneas, "Jesus Christ maketh thee whole." 
Ho ! sinner, I say the same to thee to-night. Paralyzed as 
thou art by sin ; unable to help thyself; feeling thyself im- 
potent in the grasp of thine own lusts, this is my message 
unto thee, "Jesus Christ maketh thee whole." Arise, then! 
Shake off thy weakness, snap asunder the bonds by which 
thy sins have held thee fast, and walk forth in the health of 
soul which Jesus only can confer. All that is needed on thy 
part is the believing ear and the willing heart. With these, 
thou mayst be delivered now ; without these, thou canst be 
delivered never. 

While the apostle abode at Lyclda, a message came to him 
from the brethren at Joppa desiring his immediate presence 
there. This place, now called Jaffa, is one of the oldest 
towns in Asia, and is situated on a sandy promontory jutting 
out into the Mediterranean between Cesarea and Gaza, and 
at a distance of thirty miles north-west of Jerusalem. Three 



Eneas and Dorcas. 275 

of its sides are washed by the sea. It was, and still is, the 
chief port of Judea, and at one time and another has had 
considerable commercial importance. The modern city is 
surrounded by a wall, and has from four to five thousand in- 
habitants. One of its houses is still pointed out as that of 
Simon the tanner; and whether we accept the statement or 
not, the fact that on a house-top somewhere in that city the 
apostle ascended to pray, and saw that remarkable vision 
which not only reconciled him to the admission of Gentiles 
into the Church, but also brought him to feel that the glory 
of God was to be pre-eminently promoted thereby, gives this 
city an interest to us Gentiles which is second only to that 
belonging to the place on which Saul of Tarsus was convert- 
ed to the faith. 

The occasion of Peter's summons to Joppa at this time 
was the death of a disciple who was greatly beloved for her 
character and kindness. Her name was, in the Syro-Chal- 
daic tongue, Tabitha, and in the Greek, Dorcas, both mean- 
ing " gazelle ;" and, so far as appears, she was either a 
widow or an unmarried woman, who devoted her energies 
to the service of Christ in helping the poor and needy. She 
is described as being "full of good works and alms-deeds 
which she did." Observe, it is said, "good works," and not 
simply "good words." We are told, indeed, that "Good 
words are worth much, and cost little •" but there are some 
good words that are worth very little indeed. There is 
among many a saying, " Be ye warmed, and be ye filled," 
while those things which are needful for the body are not 
given, and it is in such cases abundantly plain that the 
expressions are worthless. There was no such hypocrisy, 
however, about Dorcas. It is particularly noted that she 
was "full of good works." Let those among us who may 
be in danger of letting our sympathy evaporate in empty 
phrases take a lesson from that statement, and henceforth 



276 Peter, the Apostle. 

speak principally in actions ; for that only is true compas* 
sion which exerts itself for the relief of others ; and, 

" A man of words, and not of deeds, 
Is like a garden full of weeds." 

It is added that Dorcas was "full of alms-deeds which she 
did ;" and, from the description which is here given, we dis- 
cover that hers was not the cheap kindness of giving money 
merely, but that she actually wrought with her own hands 
for the help of the needy. It is important to note that fact, 
because in these days there are many who look upon the 
giving of a subscription to some society as all that is re- 
quired of them ; while there are others who, because they can 
not give such a donation, imagine that they can do nothing 
at all. Now, so far as the record here goes, Dorcas may 
have been herself a comparatively poor woman. But wheth- 
er she was or not, the important thing to be observed is, 
that she did not give her money in order to buy herself off 
from the obligation to work for the destitute. But she gave 
both her money and her work. No doubt societies are very 
useful things. Indeed, we could never get on, in grappling 
with the evils of our age, without them, but they have cer- 
tain special dangers connected with them, and against these 
we ought always to be on our guard. Even such a one as 
Thomas Carlyle, many years ago, in one of his suggestive 
essays, pointed out that we were in danger of being contract- 
ed and injured by what he called "machinery" in benevo- 
lence. We have associations of every sort, working like 
moral machines, for the bringing -about of certain results; 
and by subscribing to these we too frequently seek to com- 
pound, as it were, for doing nothing in the way of personal 
service. 

I admit, of course, that individual effort can not do every 
thing. And every one can see that by combination many, 



Eneas and Dorcas. 277 

together, may accomplish more than the same number of 
persons, working separately, could perform. But, in the car- 
rying-on of societies, the benevolent person is too common- 
ly cut off from coming into actual contact and living sympa- 
thy with the sufferer who is relieved. A cold, perhaps also 
sometimes a gruff, official takes the place of a generous ben- 
efactor. 

Now, this evil tells~both on the giver and on the receiver. 
The giver is deprived, to a large extent, of the reflex in- 
fluence that would come back into his own soul from the 
knowledge of him whom he relieves ; and the receiver feels 
none of that holy and elevating power which stirs his heart 
at the touch of the giver's hand, and which is valued by him 
a thousand times more, as indeed it is a thousand times bet- 
ter for him, than the gift itself. Hence, while I would not 
interfere with the working of associations which, in a large 
city like this, are positive necessities, I would have each 
Christian, as far as possible, select for himself some one par- 
ticular comer, however small — no matter though it should 
contain only one family — for whose benefit he specially 
works and prays. It is one of the drawbacks to congrega- 
tional usefulness that we can generally, at least in ordinary 
times, get money more easily than we can get workers. And 
there are some reasons for this which must be pronounced 
valid, and, to a good degree, satisfactory. Thus, in these 
days, men's energies are largely drained by business, and lit- 
tle time or strength is left after working-hours for personal 
benevolent exertions. But that I can regard only as a great 
misfortune to the individuals themselves, while it seems to 
me to be a source of weakness in the Church ; for the fel- 
lowship of giving and receiving is one of the greatest agen- 
cies in knitting men together, and one of the strongest levers 
lor raising the fallen from their degradation. 

No matter, therefore, how small the area you undertake 



278 Peter, the Apostle. 

may be, I would have you select some special department 
to which you give not money merely, but yourselves, and 
in which you seek to labor for the welfare, both temporal 
and spiritual, of others. Suppose every Christian here were 
to select but one person, and to say, by the help of God, 
without taking any thing from my subscriptions to good 
and useful societies, I will do my utmost that this person 
shall know through me the power of the Gospel, and be 
saved through my instrumentality from temporal suffering 
and eternal ruin ; how much good might result both to our- 
selves and to them ? 

It is just here, I think, that the example of Dorcas is most 
needed to-day. We do not wish less energy in the work of 
associations and societies, but, along with that, we do require 
more individual exertion ; and wherever that has been put 
forth the results have been the happiest possible. 

A week or two ago, on the evening before the day of 
prayer for colleges, the Christian students of Princeton Col- 
lege pledged themselves at a prayer-meeting to each other 
and to God, that each of them would speak to some one on 
the next day about his soul's welfare ; and out of that, taken 
in connection with other converging influences, has sprung 
one of the most genuine and extensive revivals with which 
that institution has ever been blessed. Let us, both in ad- 
ministering temporal relief and in seeking to benefit men's 
souls, proceed on a similar principle, and who may estimate 
the effects that shall be produced ? 

But I must not forget the history before me. This excel- 
lent woman died, and the usual preparations for the funeral 
were made ; but hoping, perhaps, that she might be given 
back to them, the mourners sent for Peter, who, when he came, 
saw a very singular sight. There, in the upper chamber of 
Dorcas's house, was a company of weeping widows, speaking 
the praises of their benefactress, and showing the coats and 



Eneas and Dorcas. 279 

garments which she had made for them. They did not ask 
that she should be raised from the dead ; but their sending 
for him and their tears were even more powerful entreat- 
ies than their words would have been ; so, putting them all 
forth, and kneeling down by the body, he prayed; then, turn- 
ing to the corpse, he said, " Tabitha, arise !" and her soul 
came to her again. Then, taking her with him, he presented 
her alive to her friends, and turned their mourning into joy. 

Here was a miracle ; yet, in the manner of its performance 
by Peter, much more like the miracles of Elijah and Elisha 
than those of Christ ; for he, like these ancient prophets, was 
a servant, while Jesus was the Lord from heaven. Not in 
his own name, or in his own power, was this great work ac- 
complished. It was wrought by Christ at his entreaty, and 
it resulted in a great spiritual revival ; for as at Lydda, so 
now at Joppa many believed in the Lord. 

I have dwelt so much already on the practical bearing of 
this narrative, and have had so frequent occasion throughout 
these discourses to refer to the miracles of Christ and his 
apostles, that I need not now advert to either of these mat- 
ters. But as in this chapter, for the first time, we come upon 
one of the most significant names of the Christian disciples, 
it may be well to conclude our present lecture with a brief 
consideration of that. 

When Ananias was commanded by God to visit Saul at 
Damascus, he said, " I have heard by many of this man, how 
much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem." When 
Peter went on his apostolic tour throughout all quarters, he 
came down also to the saints at Lydda. And when he had 
raised Dorcas from the dead, "he called the saints and wid- 
ows, and presented her alive."* Now, these are the first oc- 
casions on which this term was employed to designate the 

* Acts ix., 13,32,41. 



280 Peter, the Apostle. 

disciples of Christ; and the very enumeration of them may 
serve to correct the mischievous impressions which men 
have received regarding it. By some it is exclusively em- 
ployed to designate the apostles and evangelists. They al- 
ways say St. Paul, but they never think of saying St. Abra- 
ham or St. Moses. Others confer it only on those who have 
a place in the Romish calendar, in which truthful history is 
obliged to confess that we may find the names alike of the 
worthiest and of the vilest of our race ; while others still 
use it in a cynical and contemptuous fashion, to describe 
those whose religiousness wears a crabbed, gnarled, and re- 
pulsive form. Now, coming upon it here, where it first oc- 
curs in the history of the Church, we learn to rectify all such 
opinions. 

Its primary significance is — individuals set apart to the 
service of God : and as only those who had been ceremoni- 
ously purified were, under the Jewish law, thus set apart to 
God's service, the term came to have associated with it the 
idea of purity. Thus it means persons consecrated to, and 
purified for, the service of God. Now, this consecration 
was, on the one side of it, the voluntary dedication of the 
individuals themselves, but, on the other, the anointing of 
them by God with his Holy Spirit. Therefore, combining 
these two things, we may define saints as those who, purified 
by God's spirit, have dedicated themselves to God's service ; 
and, as thus explained, the name is appropriate to all true 
believers who are seeking to walk in holiness and love. 
There is no Scriptural warrant for restricting it exclusively 
to any persons as a title of special honor, distinguishing 
them from all other members of the body of Christ. Paul, 
in writing to the Christians at Rome, addresses them as 
" called to be saints ;" and he speaks to the Corinthians as 
" to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be 
saints." So he begins his epistles to the Ephesians, Phi' 



Eneas and Dorcas. 281 

lippians, and Colossians thus : " To the saints which are at 
Ephesus ;" " To all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at 
Philippi;" and "To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ 
which are at Colosse." Every one, therefore, who has been 
regenerated by the power of the Holy Ghost, who is washed 
from his sins by the blood of Christ, and who has consecrated 
himself to the service of the Lord, is a " saint." 

And, as we see from the narrative before me, taken in con- 
nection with the passages to which I have just referred, their 
sainthood is to be manifested, not by forsaking the world for 
a conventual life, but by staying in it, in the places where 
God has put them, and seeking to benefit those who are 
around them. Here was Dorcas among her widows doing 
a work for Christ, and she was a saint indeed. So, in after- 
days, there were saints in Caesar's household and in the Ro- 
man army ; men who, by their earnest piety, were as pleas- 
ing to the Lord Jesus in their own callings as either Paul or 
Peter was in his. This is the kind of sainthood which we 
need to-day. Show me the man who spurns from him every 
bribe to do evil as an insult offered, not merely to himself, 
but to his Lord, and who turns away from it in memory of 
the Redeemer's cross ; show me the merchant who, out of 
regard to Jesus, is willing to lose money rather than do a 
dishonest act ; show me the mechanic who works on at 
his bench, making every article with care and conscience, 
because he is making it for Christ ; show me the politician 
who will forfeit even the prizes of his party rather than do 
what he knows to be against the will of God ; show me the 
woman who will brave the scorn of fashion, and the ridicule 
of society, rather than yield to customs which disgrace her 
womanhood, and dishonor her Lord ; and in each of these 
I will show you a saint indeed. Yea, wherever a disciple 
of Jesus is not ashamed to own and obey his Lord, though 
an unbelieving world should taunt him as a Methodist, you 



282 Peter, the Apostle. 

have saintliness of the truest type. Courage, then, my hear- 
ers : there is hope for you that you may win the honor of 
this name. You may be already nobler saints than any in 
the purest calendar, for there is a holiness in labor done for 
Christ ; there is a saintliness in the wearing of a constant 
cheerfulness, when that is felt to be the reflection of the 
Saviour's smile ; there is a halo, brighter than ever artist 
painted, round a mother's patient love for the children whom 
she has consecrated in baptism unto the Lord ; there is a 
canonization, more real than ever pope decreed, in the fa- 
ther's faithful toil as, week in, week out, he goes about his 
round of labor that he may support his family, and bring 
them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And, 
haply, in the day when God makes up his jewels, it may be 
found that out of the ranks of our modern and ordinary life, 
commonplace as men may call it, there have arisen more 
Christian heroes than in the time when the disciples sought 
refuge in the Catacombs, or when the martyrs burned at the 
stake. It is an easy thing, comparatively, to die for Christ, 
but it is a hard thing, and a noble thing, to live for him. 
Such a life is the highest sainthood, and to that I incite you 
now. 

" We need not bid, for cloistered cell, 

Our neighbors and the world farewell : 

The trivial round, the common task, 

Will give us all we ought to ask — 

Room to deny ourselves, a road 

To bring us daily nearer God." 

Follow that road ; it is the way of holiness ; " The un- 
clean shall not walk there ; and the wayfaring man, though 
a fool, shall not err therein." 



XIX. 

CORNELIUS. . 

Acts x. 

THE city of Cesarea was situated on the coast of the 
Mediterranean Sea, about thirty miles north of Joppa. 
It was built by Herod the Great, about twenty-two years be- 
fore the birth of Christ, and named by him after his imperial 
patron. It was the civil and military capital of Judea so 
long as that remained a Roman province ; and it had a cer- 
tain pre-eminence belonging to it as the residence of the 
procurator. Its population was mainly Gentile, though some 
thousands of Jews dwelt within its walls. At this time it 
was garrisoned by soldiers, most of whom were native Syr- 
ians ; but there was one cohort composed of volunteers 
from Italy, and over a division of that there was a certain 
centurion named Cornelius, whose character is very pleas- 
ingly sketched by the sacred historian. He belonged to an 
illustrious Roman clan, which had given to the State some 
of its ablest and most distinguished men ; but greater than 
the glory of Sulla and the Scipios, who had made the Corne- 
lian family everywhere renowned, is that which is conferred 
on this centurion when it is said that "he was a devout 
man, and one that feared God with all his house, which 
gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always." 

These words have been understood by many as equiva- 
lent to a declaration that Cornelius was a proselyte to the 
Jewish religion. But that opinion seems to me to be erro- 
neous j for had he been all that is usually implied in that 



284 Peter, the Apostle. 

term, no hesitation would have been felt by Peter, or any 
one of the disciples, about receiving him into the Christian 
Church. Among the converts on the day of Pentecost were 
both Jews and proselytes ; and that Cornelius belonged to 
neither of these classes is evident from the manner in which 
James refers to him in his address at the Council at Jerusa- 
lem, in which these words occur : " Simon hath declared how 
God at first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a peo- 
ple for his name."* We understand, therefore, that he was 
still uncircumcised, and that, though he had a good report 
among all the nation of the Jews,f he had not as yet, formal- 
ly and finally, identified himself with them. 

There were, at that time, among both the Greeks and Ro- 
mans, many thoughtful men, who had become weary of the 
hollowness and worthlessness of their old religions, and to 
that class this devout soldier belonged. He had outgrown 
the superstitions of idolatry and polytheism. He had per- 
haps made himself familiar with the Greek translation of 
the Old Testament Scriptures, and had certainly become 
convinced of the unity and spirituality of God, and of the 
fact that Jehovah was the hearer of prayer. The great prin- 
ciples underlying the writings of Moses and the prophets 
had been accepted by him, but he had not yet seen his way 
to become a proselyte. Perhaps he might have become one 
if he had never heard of Jesus ; but, as it seems to me, when 
he had come so far in the investigation of these momentous 
matters as to believe in God, and was about to entertain the 
question whether he should submit in all respects to the law 
of Moses, and become virtually a Jew, he heard of the death 
and resurrection of Jesus ; and, being a genuine truth-seek- 
er, he determined to wait for light regarding him before he 
should take any decisive step. There was, as he could not 

* Acts xv., 14. t Acts xv., 22. 



Cornelius. 285 

but see, a division of opinion among the Jews themselves re- 
garding Jesus ; and therefore he would not commit himself 
to Judaism until he had made up his mind about the facts, 
of which, as appears clearly from Peter's discourse, he had 
already heard. Thus he stood outside of Judaism, while yet 
he was indebted to the Jewish Scriptures for his knowledge 
of the true God. 

If this be a correct description of his position, then it will 
enable us to understand the special object which he had in 
view in his fasting and prayer. His four days' devotion 
must have had a purpose, and it is most natural to suppose 
that it was connected with a spiritual struggle through which 
he was passing. There had come to him that question which, 
in one form or other, confronts every one who even hears 
about Christ : " What wilt thou do with Jesus who is called 
Christ ?" and in his anxiety as to the answer which he should 
give, he cried most earnestly to God for light. As Neander 
has said, " He had probably heard very various opinions re- 
specting Christianity ; from many zealous Jews, judgments 
altogether condemnatory ; from others, sentiments which led 
him to expect that in the new doctrine he would at last find 
what he had so long been seeking : thus a conflict would 
raturally arise in his mind which would impel him to seek 
illumination from God on a question that so anxiously occu- 
pied his thoughts."^ 

Nor did he seek in vain ; for, as he prayed, he saw, in a 
vision, " an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto 
him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memo- 
rial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for 
one Simon, whose surname is Peter : he lodgeth with one 
Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea-side : he shall tell 
thee what thou oughtest to do." He was too much in ear- 

* Ncander's " Planting and Training," vol. i., p. 69. 



286 Peter, the Apostle. 

nest either to doubt concerning the character of this com- 
munication, or to delay acting upon it; so he sent two of his 
servants and a soldier, who was like-minded with himself, to 
find Peter and bring him to his house. 

They started from Cesarea in the evening, and, having 
rested by the way, it was noon of the next day before they 
arrived at Joppa. But God had gone before them, and was 
even then preparing his servant for their appearance. Peter 
had retired to the flat roof of the house in which he lodged 
for the purpose of enjoying a season of devotion ; and as he 
was engaged in prayer he became very hungry, and desired 
food to be made ready for him ; but while the servants were 
preparing it, he fell into a trance, in which he saw, three 
times repeated, a very singular vision. A great sheet was 
let down to him from the opened heaven, " wherein were all 
manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, 
and creeping things, and fowls of the air." As it came down 
to him, he heard a voice saying to him, "Arise, Peter; slay 
and eat." But the strong convictions of the apostle remon- 
strated against such a command, and he replied, "Not so, 
Lord ; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or 
unclean ;" whereupon the voice answered, " What God hath 
cleansed, that call not thou common." 

The meaning of this is apparent to us in a moment. It 
was a symbolical revelation of the fact that the restrictions 
of the Mosaic law were now removed ; and that the distinc- 
tion between Jew and Gentile, out of which these grew, and 
for the maintenance of which they were designed, was now 
abolished. It indicated that now " creation itself had been 
purified, and rendered clean for our use by the satisfaction 
of Christ,"* and that men of all nations were now to be dealt 
with in the same manner for salvation. 

* Alford, " Commentary " in loco. 



Cornelius. 287 

Peter, indeed, did not see all that just at the moment; but 
while he was pondering on the vision, and wondering what 
it meant, he was helped to a clearer comprehension of it by 
the arrival of the servants of Cornelius, and by the message 
which they brought. They told him of the vision which had 
come to their master ; and that gave him a key to the inter- 
pretation of the communication that had come to himself. 
So, putting the two together, he determined to go with the 
men to Cesarea. But, knowing how jaded they were with 
their journey, he lodged them for the night, and set out with 
them the next day. 

As we learn from the statement made by him afterward 
at Jerusalem,* he took with him six brethren from Joppa ; 
and it is not difficult to account for such a precaution. His 
own extraordinary vision, taken in connection with the nar- 
rative told by the servants of the centurion, convinced him 
that some important event in the history of the Church was 
about to happen, and he desired that Jewish witnesses 
should be present, to give a faithful report of every thing 
that might occur. He wished also that they should take 
part with him in the performance of any duty that might de- 
velop its obligation at the moment. And so we see that, im- 
pulsive and impetuous as Peter was by nature, he was not 
by any means destitute of prudence ; for in this instance his 
conduct was worthy both of praise and imitation. 

The party arrived at Cesarea on the following morning ; 
and when Peter reached the house of Cornelius, he found a 
considerable assembly, composed of the kinsmen and friends 
of the centurion. As he entered, the Roman officer met 
him, and fell down before him ; not to pay him divine hom- 
age, for Cornelius knew better than to do that, but to show 
him respect according to the custom of the country. Yet, 



* Acts xi., 12. 



288 Peter, the Apostle. 

knowing how likely his acceptance of any such honor was to 
be misunderstood, Peter said unto him, " Stand up ; I my- 
self also am a man :" an expression which showed also that 
he had already learned the great lesson of the vision on the 
house-top, which was the equality of men in the sight of 
God. 

When he came into the chamber where the household and 
friends of Cornelius were assembled, he thought it needful 
to explain how he, a Jew, came to be in such close contact 
with the Gentiles, and gave his interpretation of the Divine 
revelation which had been made to him in these emphatic 
words : " God hath showed me that I should not call any 
man common or unclean." Then, referring to his prompt re- 
sponse to the invitation which he had received, he asked the 
centurion why he had sent for him. In reply, Cornelius de- 
tailed those particulars with which we are already familiar, 
and concluded his narrative with these earnest words, which 
reveal his sense of the importance of the occasion : " Now 
therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all 
things that are commanded thee of God." In response to 
this appeal, Peter delivered to them a sermon quite as re- 
markable as any of those which are recorded in this wonder- 
ful history. He began with a reiteration of the great doc- 
trine which had been revealed to him in the vision at Joppa: 
"Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; 
but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh right- 
eousness, is accepted with him." 

Yet let us not misunderstand these words ; for through 
the oversight of the circumstances in which they were ut- 
tered many have drawn from them inferences which they do 
not warrant. They do not imply that the persons in regard 
to whom they are used are already saved, for Cornelius was 
one of them ; and in the next chapter we read that when the 
angel commanded him to send for Peter, he said, "Who 



Cornelius. 289 

shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be 
saved. "* Up till that moment, therefore, Cornelius and his 
friends were unsaved. Hence the acceptance here does not 
denote salvation. What it does mean is virtually the same 
thing as the apostle had already expressed when he said, 
"God hath showed me that I should not call any man com- 
mon or unclean." 

Alford's note on the passage is exceedingly clear and val- 
uable, and no words of mine could give the true interpre- 
tation so forcibly. He says: "The question which recent 
events had solved in Peter's mind was that of the admissi- 
bility of men of all nations into the Church of Christ. In 
this sense only had he received any information as to the 
acceptableness of men of all nations before God. He saw 
that in every nation men who seek after God, who receive 
his witness of himself, without which he has left no man, and 
humbly follow his will as they know it, these have no ex- 
traneous hinderance, such as uncircumcision, placed in their 
way to Christ, but are capable of being admitted into God's 
Church, though Gentiles, and as Gentiles. That only such 
are spoken of is agreeable to the nature of the case ; for 
men who do not fear God and work righteousness are out 
of the question, not being likely to seek such admission. 
It is clearly unreasonable to suppose Peter to have meant 
that each heathen's natural light and moral purity would 
render him acceptable in the sight of God ; for if so, why 
should he have proceeded to preach Christ to Cornelius, or 
indeed anywhere at all? And it is equally unreasonable to 
find any verbal or doctrinal difficulty in the phrase 'work- 
eth righteousness,' or to suppose that righteousness must be 
taken in its forensic sense, and therefore that he alludes to 
the state of men after becoming believers. He speaks popu- 

* Acts xi., 14. 
13 



290 Peter, the Apostle. 

larly, and certainly not without reference to the character 
he had heard of Cornelius, which consisted of these very 
two parts — he feared God, and abounded in good works." 

Thus, then, the doctrine of this verse is, that mere exter- 
nal things, such as parentage, nationality, and. the like, are 
neither any recommendation of a man to God, nor any bar- 
rier in his way to God. The restrictions of the Mosaic in- 
stitute were at an end ; and in Christ Jesus there was to be 
" neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scyth- 
ian, bond nor free." Hence this passage has little or noth- 
ing to do with the question as to the possibility of the sal- 
vation of the heathen without the knowledge of the Gospel ; 
and as to that of the possibility of the salvation of a man in 
a Christian land who is not a believer in Jesus Christ, but is 
living in morality and benevolence, it is decisive against it; 
for Cornelius accepted the Saviour when he was set before 
him ; and if he had not done so, he would have been him- 
self rejected. 

Let no hearer of the Gospel, therefore, who is disbelieving 
Christ attempt to shelter himself behind this saying of Pe- 
ter. As to the heathen, we may well leave them in the hands 
of God, believing that "the Judge of all the earth shall do 
right ;" but as to ourselves, if, having heard the Gospel, we 
reject the Saviour, this will be "the condemnation that light 
is come into the world, and we have loved the darkness 
rather than the light, because our deeds are evil." Respon- 
sibility is according to privilege ; the heathen will not be 
condemned for rejecting a Saviour of whom they have never 
heard, for they who have sinned without law shall also per- 
ish without law ; but if we refuse this great salvation, our 
guilt will be greater than that of the inhabitants of Sodom, 
and our doom will be more terrible than that of Gomorrah. 

After this introduction, Peter goes on to rehearse the Gos- 
pel to his audience. He takes it for granted that they had 



Cornelius. 291 

heard the reports which had been circulated far and wide 
about Jesus of Nazareth, and he proceeds to give a more 
formal account of the mission and work of the Lord. He 
begins with a reference to his old master, John, and tells of 
the baptism of Jesus, at which, by the descending Spirit, he 
was specially and abundantly anointed for his great work as 
the prophet, priest, and king of his people. He repeats the 
beautiful story of his beneficent life, and dwells especially 
upon his casting-out of devils from them that were possess- 
ed, as a proof of the fact that God was with him. Then he 
brings himself and his brother apostles forward as witnesses, 
who spoke not from hearsay, but concerning things which 
came under their own observation. He refers to the cruci- 
fixion of Jesus by the Jews, to his resurrection from the dead, 
to the fact that he was seen of many after that event, and 
that he himself was one of those who did eat and drink with 
him. Then, without any special allusion to his ascension 
into heaven, he speaks of the command which had been 
given to the disciples " to preach unto the people, and to 
testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the 
judge of quick and dead," and concludes with the decla- 
ration " that through his name whosoever believeth in him 
shall receive remission of sins." 

It is interesting to compare the discourse thus epitomized 
with that which he delivered on Pentecost, and to observe 
that, with incidental variations, arising from the different cir- 
cumstances in which they were delivered, there is yet virtual 
identity. In the Jerusalem sermon, which was addressed to 
Jews, there is copious reference to the Old Testament Script- 
ures. In this, while there are one or two allusions to the 
prophets, there are no formal quotations from them ; in that, 
his hearers were directly charged with the guilt of the cru- 
cifixion. In this, he does not seem to connect his audience 
with that dreadful crime, but simply says, " whom they slew, 



292 Peter, the Apostle. 

and hanged upon a tree ;" in that, the conclusion was essen- 
tially Jewish: "Let all the house of Israel know assuredly 
that God hath made this same Jesus, whom ye have cruci- 
fied, both Lord and Christ." In this, the conclusion em- 
braces humanity in its ample sweep, and emphasizes that 
glorious " whosoever," which is the sinner's encouragement in 
every Gospel invitation; but in both the personal Saviour is 
the great central figure. He set him before men's eyes, and 
directed them to believe in him for forgiveness and holiness. 
In spite of the temptation which on both occasions might 
have enticed him to put himself forward, he studiously placed 
himself behind his Master, and claimed only to be a witness- 
bearer to his majesty, his benevolence, and his grace. 

While he was yet speaking, and indeed, as it appears, just 
as he was in the act of repeating the gracious invitation to 
which I have referred, the Holy Ghost miraculously descend- 
ed on all them that heard the Word. It is not said in what 
form he came ; but as, in the account which Peter gave at 
Jerusalem, he said, " The Holy Ghost fell on them as on us 
at the beginning;" and as the effects following on the de- 
scent were similar to those witnessed on the day of Pente- 
cost, "they spake with tongues, and magnified God," I think 
it probable that here also there were " cloven tongues like as 
of fire." 

This miraculous endowment of Cornelius and his friends 
with the Holy Ghost served three purposes : it certified the 
truth of Peter's words ; it proved to Peter and to those who 
were with him the genuineness of the faith of the Gentile 
converts ; and as it was bestowed through no apostolic in- 
tervention, but directly and immediately by the Lord, it in- 
dicated his will that they who had received it should be then 
and there admitted to the membership of the Church. Thus, 
at least, Peter understood it ; for he said, "Can any man for- 
bid water, that these should be baptized which have received 



Cornelius. 293 

the Holy Ghost as well as we ?" So he commanded them to 
be baptized in the name of the Lord. He did not adminis- 
ter the ordinance himself, but left it, as seems probable, to 
the brethren who accompanied him to do that act, believing 
with Paul, " that Christ had sent him not to baptize, but to 
preach the Gospel." 

This was the Pentecost of the Gentiles ; and so it was 
brought about that Peter opened the door of the Church for 
their admission according as the Lord had promised him. 
In many respects he was the most unlikely among the apos- 
tles for the performance of such a work ; but, by the disci- 
pline of God's Holy Spirit, he was brought to see that no 
man was common or unclean ; and when he beheld the de- 
scent of the Holy Ghost on Cornelius and his friends, he felt 
that to resist their admission into the Church would be "to 
fight against God."* So he cheerfully acquiesced ; and, far 
from counting it a disagreeable duty, or from being eager to 
get away from the Gentiles, he consented to their prayer that 
he should tarry with them certain days. 

Thus the infant Church, under the guidance of its Lord, 
took a new departure, and entered upon that world-wide 
mission in which it is still engaged. At Cesarea, first, its 
preachers found out fully that its field was the world, and 
the churches of the Gentiles are the noble fruits of Peter's 
obedience to the heavenly vision. 

Many interesting and important lessons are suggested by 
this striking narrative, but I can mention only one or two. 

We may learn, then, in the first place, that the way to get 
light is to act up to that which we have, and pray for more. 
Cornelius was seeking after God. He had not yet found 
Christ, but he had found something, and "whereto he had 
attained he walked by that rule." He had discovered that 

* Acts xi., 17. 



294 Peter, the Apostle. 

God was one, that he was spiritual, that he was the hearer 
of prayer, and that he had enjoined upon men holiness and 
benevolence. So he acted upon these principles out of re- 
gard to God's will, and waited upon him in earnest prayer 
that he might know yet more concerning him. Then God 
sent directions to him, in the following of which he was led 
to fuller understanding of the truth, and to salvation through 
Christ. 

Now, this is a uniform law of God's procedure. It is rec- 
ognized by the Psalmist when he says, "Unto the upright 
there ariseth light in the darkness ;" # and it is repeatedly 
referred to by our Lord himself as when he says, " Unto ev- 
ery one that hath shall be given ;"t and " If any man will do 
his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God."$ 
If, therefore, any one here should be in a spiritual struggle, 
longing for the light, and eagerly anxious to know what he 
must do, let me ask him to define clearly to himself what he 
does see and believe, and let me beseech him to act up to 
that ; for as he does so, light will break upon his path, and 
in some way or other direction will be given him. 

Those who have read the memoir of Frederick Robertson 
will remember how he stayed himself up with this principle 
during that dark wrestle with doubt and disbelief which he 
had in his journey through the Tyrol. Every thing else went 
from him, but he could hold by this : " It is always right to 
do right ;" and in the acting-out of that he regained his hold 
of Christ. So let the seekers and the tempted among us 
follow his example, and cry mightily to God. He will guide 
us into the truth. Not now, indeed, by miracle as he led 
Cornelius ; but we may rely upon it that if we are but ear- 
nest in our search, and faithful in our effort to act up to what 
we do know, he will, in some way or other, open up our way 

* Psa. cxii., 4. f Matt, xxv., 29. J John vii., 17. 



Cornelius. 295 

before us, making crooked things straight and rough places 
smooth. Here are his own assurances : " If from thence 
thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if 
thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul •"* 
" If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth 
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not ; and it shall be giv- 
en him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering : for he 
that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind 
and tossed."! 

We may learn, in the second place, that in all spiritual 
matters we should be prompt. Cornelius lost no time in 
sending messengers for Peter. He was in earnest, and the 
sooner he could find rest for his soul, the better. Nay, after 
Peter came, he took in all he said while he was yet speak- 
ing, and so received the Holy Ghost. Let every inquirer im- 
itate him in this : 

" To-day is yours ; to-morrow never yet 
On any human being rose or set." 

Therefore do at once that which is needed to secure your 
soul's welfare. When Moses asked Pharaoh when he should 
entreat the Lord to remove the frogs that were croaking 
through all the palace, and leaping on his very couches, he 
said, " To-morrow !" and you marvel at his folly. You think 
that if you had been in his circumstances you would have 
said, "The sooner the better." But beware lest, in censur- 
ing him, you do not condemn yourself; for when we press 
upon your attention the importance of spiritual and eternal 
things, and ask you to get rid of your sins, you say to us, 
"Yes, yes; you are speaking the truth, and I will attend to 
it soon, some time, to-morrow ;" and when the morrow comes, 
the cry is still " To-morrow !" and when a death-bed comes, 

* Deut. iv., 29. t James i., 5-6. 



296 Peter, the Apostle. 

"to-morrow " is— in hell ! Oh ! be not so foolish. " To-day 
if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." You do 
not need to send to Joppa in order to have the truth pro- 
claimed to you. Nay, " The word is nigh thee, even in thy 
mouth, and in thy heart : that is, the word of faith, which we 
preach ; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord 
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised 
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."* Linger not a mo- 
ment longer, therefore, but " believe and live." 

But the promptitude of Peter is as remarkable as that of 
Cornelius, and we who have to deal with men about their 
souls should take a lesson from his example. He went with 
the men " without gainsaying, as soon as he was sent for." 
So we ought to be willing, at any sacrifice of personal con- 
venience, to help a sinner to salvation through Christ. 

Many years ago, in connection with an effort which was 
made to reach the non- church -going population of Liver- 
pool, I preached to an enormous audience in a circus. It 
required from me a great physical effort, so that when my 
discourse was finished I was myself completely prostrated. 
While I was in that condition, and before I had left the 
place, a person came up wishing to speak with me about the 
way of life. I made an appointment with him to meet me 
the next morning. But he never came. And so I have 
written down that as one of the lost opportunities of my life. 
I had not then fully learned the lesson which the Master 
taught me by the well of Sychar, and I can not look back 
upon my error without emotion. Had I spent a few min- 
utes with that man, he might haply have been brought to 
Christ. The memory of that incident has been a spur to 
me in later years; and I have told it now, that all of us who, 
in the providence of God, may have an opportunity of deal- 

* Rom. x., 8, 9. 



Cornelius. 297 

ing with an inquiring sinner, may use promptitude. "The 
king's business requireth haste." Now — alike for preacher 
and hearer — is the accepted time. 

We may learn here, thirdly, that preachers and hearers 
are prepared for each other by God. Cornelius is led in a 
peculiar manner to send for Peter; Peter is fitted in a man- 
ner equally peculiar for going to Cornelius ; and when they 
come together, the result is blessing. Now, it is precisely 
so yet with ordinary ministers and hearers — with this dif- 
ference, that in our days the preparation is effected by the 
usual means of God's providence, and not by miracle. The 
preacher is led through a special spiritual history ; he is 
guided to the choice of a particular subject, which his ex- 
perience leads him to treat in a distinctive manner, and he 
is led to preach it in a place which perhaps is at a consid- 
erable distance from his stated field of labor. The hearer, 
again, is brought through certain circumstances, say of trial, 
temporal distress, bereavement, or spiritual perplexity ; he 
is led on a certain day to a certain place of worship ; he 
can give no precise reason why on that day he went to that 
place, but there he met the message which God intended for 
him. It seems to him, as he listens, that the preacher must 
somehow have known his past life, and is at the moment in 
possession of his innermost secrets ; and speaking thus to 
his circumstances, he is blessed in his conversion. 

This is no uncommon history. I have known so many 
such cases in my own experience ; and so firm is my faith in 
what I may call the forerunning grace of the Spirit and the 
particular providence of God, that I never preach to any 
audience, small or great, without the conviction that I am 
sent with a special word for some one there. Nay, more, I 
am impressed with the belief that God makes the moods 
and feelings and the personal and domestic history of the 
preacher a means of preparing him to benefit his people ; 

13* 



Peter, the Apostle. 



and I try to think, when I am in joy or in sorrow, in de- 
spondency or in light, that God has sent me on ahead of my 
people, that I may be able the better to guide them in pros- 
perity, and in adversity may " comfort them with the comfort 
wherewith we ourselves have been comforted of God." Je- 
hovah gives the preacher visions now, not by " trances " upon 
the house-top, but through discipline and trial. Tears are often 
the telescopes through which he gives them a sight of the in- 
visible \ and their best sermons are those which he has written 
first upon their own hearts by the sharp " stylus " of affliction. 
When Ezekiel was bereaved of his wife, it was that he 
might be made a sign to the people among whom he prophe- 
sied ; and the personal history of the preacher prepares him 
to speak a word in season to them that are weary. But if 
this be so with him, the circumstances of the hearers ought 
to prepare them also for some helpful message through the 
pulpit ; and every week you should be on the outlook for it, 
for such expectant hearers are never disappointed. If there 
were more audiences like that in the household of Corne- 
lius, saying, " We are all here present before God to hear 
all things that are commanded thee of God," there would be 
more preachers like Peter. Model hearers will make mod- 
el ministers. Ah, at how many points our histories touch 
each other ! and while we are unconscious of the providence 
that is thus over us all, how God is working out his gra- 
cious purpose in us all ! This subject ought to give new im- 
portance to the pulpit in your regard ; and I am sure that it 
has given me new confidence and inspiration as a preacher 
of the cross. I am not drawing, day by day, my bow at a 
venture. I do not see, indeed, where the arrow is to find its 
mark ; but the Holy Spirit is to me as the old prophet was 
to Israel's king,* for his hands are upon my hands ; and 



2 Kings xiii., 17. 



Cornelius. 



299 



as the bowstring twangs, he cries, " The arrow of the Lord's 
deliverance." Faithful preaching is never in vain ; and the 
history of Cornelius sends me away to-night with a new in- 
terpretation of the poet's lyric : 

" I shot an arrow into the air : 
It fell to earth I knew not where ; 
For so swiftly it flew, the sight 
Could not follow it in its flight. 

" I breathed a song into the air : 
It fell to earth I knew not where ; 
For who has sight so keen and strong 
That it can follow the flight of song ? 

" Long, long afterward, in an oak, 
I found the arrow still unbroke ; 
And the song, from beginning to end, 
I found again in the heart of a friend." 

No sermon preached for Christ misses its mark. Let the 
ministers among us take comfort at the thought, and labor 
on. We shall meet the fruits of our discourses in the better 
>-d. 



XX. 

PETER PRAYED OUT OF PRISON. 

Acts xii. 

THE proceedings of Peter in the household of Cornelius 
were heard of by the members of the Church of Jeru- 
salem with surprise, and on his return to the Holy City the 
apostle was put on his defense for going in to men that were 
uncircumcised and eating with them. In reply he gave a 
simple narrative of all that had occurred, and called upon 
the six brethren who had accompanied him to Cesarea to 
confirm his statements ; and the result was that his adver- 
saries "held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then 
hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." 

Shortly after this, tidings were brought to the members of 
the mother Church that certain of those who had left Jeru- 
salem in consequence of the persecution in which Stephen 
suffered had gone to Antioch, and preached the Gospel to 
the Gentiles there ; and Barnabas was sent as a special 
commissioner to examine into the matter and report. He 
found that a great number had believed and turned unto the 
Lord, and the sight of their decision and earnestness filled 
his heart with joy ; while at the same time the success of 
the preachers among them gave him such an impression 
regarding the hopefulness of the field in their city, that he 
went at once to Tarsus, and brought Paul thence to labor 
with him in Antioch. 

Here for a whole year these noble men continued their 
ministry, isolated in a great degree from the brethren in Ju- 



Peter Prayed Out of Prison. 301 

dea, yet so interested in their welfare that at a time of fam- 
ine they carried to the saints in Jerusalem a liberal contri- 
bution for their relief. But they did not remain long in the 
city which was so dear to them both, for just then a fresh 
persecution, organized and prosecuted by Herod the king, 
broke out against the Christians there. 

This monarch was distinguished by the unscrupulous cru- 
elty which characterized all the members of the family to 
which he belonged ; and after a checkered career, remarka- 
ble for intrigue, cunning, and sycophancy, he was now upon 
the throne of Judea. He was the grandson of that Herod 
the Great who caused the murder of the infants at Bethle- 
hem ; the brother of that Herodius who instigated the exe- 
cution of John the Baptist ; and the father of that Agrippa 
before whom Paul afterward made his noble defense at Ces- 
area. Pie is commonly known in history as Herod Agrippa 
I. ; and a brief epitome of his life up to this closing inci- 
dent of his career may help to give you some idea of his 
personal character, as well as of the lawlessness and corrup- 
tion of the age in which he lived. 

Fleeing from Palestine to escape the rage of his grand- 
father, he spent the greater part of his youth in Rome ; but 
by a course of reckless extravagance, he reduced himself 
to such poverty that he was obliged, in the year 23, to re- 
turn to Judea. After living there in great penury for three 
years, he revisited Rome, and through the influence of his 
mother, Bernice, he was kindly received by the Emperor 
Tiberius, and became the friend of Caius Caligula, the heir- 
apparent, and afterward the occupant, of the imperial throne. 
Happening, in conversation, to express a wish that his friend 
were emperor, one who overheard his words repeated them 
to Tiberius, who threw him into prison and kept him there 
in chains ; but when Caligula reached the throne, he was 
set at liberty and loaded with honors. The new emperor 



302 Peter, the Apostle. 

gave him a golden chain equal in weight to the iron one 
by which he had been bound, and conferred upon him, with 
the title of king, the two tetrarchies of Palestine, which hap- 
pened at that time to be vacant. By his prudent manage- 
ment, he prevailed upon the emperor not to insist upon his 
impious demand to have his statue set up in the Temple of 
Jerusalem ; and, true to his policy of worshiping the rising 
sun, after the murder of Caligula, in the plotting of which 
some suppose he had a share, he secured the favor of his 
successor Claudius, who confirmed the grants of the former 
emperor, and added to them the sovereignty of Judea and 
Samaria, thereby making him ruler of the whole territory 
over which his grandfather had held sway. 

At the date of the events in this chapter he was in the 
fifty-fourth year of his age ; and though he had offended the 
stricter Jews by his introduction of Roman customs, yet by 
his success in procuring the revocation of the odious edict 
of Caligula, and by seeking in every way to propitiate the 
favor of the people, he was very popular among his subjects. 
Josephus* has thus described him : " This king was by nat- 
ure very beneficent and liberal in his gifts ; and being very 
ambitious to oblige people with such large donations, he 
made himself very illustrious by the many expensive pres- 
ents which he bestowed. He took delight in giving, and re- 
joiced in living with good reputation Accordingly, he 

loved to live continually at Jerusalem, and was exactly care- 
ful in the observance of the laws of his country. He there- 
fore kept himself entirely pure ; nor did any day pass over 
his head without its appointed sacrifice." 

The sacred and profane historians are thus in perfect ac- 
cord regarding this man. The master passion of his soul, 
in the view of both, was to please the people. His ruling 

* "Antiquities," 19, 7, 1. 



Peter Prayed Out of Prison. 303 

principle was love of display, for the purpose of obtaining 
the admiration and the good opinion of the multitude. This 
made him, among Jews, an exact and even scrupulous Jew ; 
and it was only natural that his pious zeal should show it- 
self in seeking to extirpate the Christians ; while again, see- 
ing how grateful this was to the feelings of those with whom 
he came into contact, he was thereby encouraged to prose- 
cute the work of intolerance with increasing energy. How 
mixed the motives which operate in the human heart ! and 
in how many is an apparent zeal for some religious cause 
only the outcome of personal vanity and the desire to secure 
the favor of the multitude ! Not such assistance nor such 
defenders does the truth require ; for he who is its Lord has 
said to all his followers, "Put up the sword into its scabbard." 
The principal victim of Herod's persecution was the Apos- 
tle James. We know nothing more of this early martyr than 
what has been told us in the sacred narrative. He was the 
son of Zebedee and Salome, and the brother of John. He 
was one of the three most favored disciples, and was pres- 
ent at the raising of Jairus's daughter, and on the Mount of 
Transfiguration. He was, besides, one of those who were 
taken farthest with Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane. 
Along with John, he was so distinguished for zeal and en- 
ergy in the Master's cause, that he called them Boanerges 
("sons of thunder"). And as it is the loftiest towers that 
are first struck by the lightning, and the tallest trees that 
feel most the fury of the blast, it is probable that by emi- 
nence, ability, and success he stood so prominently forward 
among the Christians as to attract the attention and pro- 
voke the enmity of their opponents. For him and John his 
mother had asked from the. Redeemer the highest posts of 
honor in his kingdom ; and though he said that she knew 
not what she asked, he promised that they should drink of 
his cup, and be baptized with his baptism. 



304 Peter, the Apostle. 

In different forms this cup was presented to them. John 
lived to be the last witness-bearer of the apostles, and passed 
through many fiery trials ; but James, in his early ministry — 
for it was yet no more than thirteen years since the cruci- 
fixion — followed Jesus, through the fire of martyrdom, to the 
throne of glory. Perhaps, as he was being led forth to be 
beheaded by the sword, there might come back upon him 
the memory of the Lord's answer to his mother's request, 
and with that the feeling that he was entering into the fel- 
lowship of his Redeemer's sufferings preparatory to the shar- 
ing with him of his glory. We can not tell, but we may be 
sure that he who sustained Stephen in that hour 

" When, from a happy place, 
God's glory smote him on the face," 

would not forsake James; and, though little or nothing is 
here said of his departure, we are not, on that account, to 
think that his bearing would be less worthy of a Christian 
apostle than that of Paul in after-days. His dying words 
are not recorded, nor is his courage dwelt upon. It is taken 
as a thing of course that he glorified Christ in both ; and 
yonder he is one of the foremost leaders in that "noble 
army of martyrs" who praise the Lord continually. 

Encouraged by the effect produced on the minds of the 
Jews by the killing of James, and wishing still further to se- 
cure their applause, Herod apprehended Peter, and put him 
in prison until the Passover should be over, intending then 
to make a grand public spectacle of his execution. What 
was a human life or two to him, compared with his darling 
popularity ? That he might not be foiled in his plans, he 
watched his victim very closely. Not only was he put in 
prison, but sixteen soldiers were appointed to keep guard 
over him day and night, four and four by turns. Two were 
in the dungeon with him, one being chained to him on each 



Peter Prayed Out of Prison. 305 

side ; one was at the door of his dungeon, and one was at 
the prison door itself: and all these precautions were taken 
over and above the ordinary safeguards of the place. 

One might have thought it was a waste of resources thus 
to set soldiers beside a poor defenseless man. What had 
he done that he should be so guarded ? Was he some mur- 
derous Barabbas, or some powerful partisan ? or had he be- 
hind him some unscrupulous associates, who would resort to 
violence and set him free ? Nothing of the kind. He was 
an unlettered man, who preached " Jesus and the resurrec- 
tion." But there were some about Herod who could tell of 
this same Peter that once before he had got out of prison 
they knew not how ; and so he would be sure that there 
would be no second deliverance. Vain man ! Did he think 
himself a match for God ? Did he imagine that, if it was 
God's will to set his servant free, his bolts and bars and 
sentinels would matter any thing? Very likely he did not 
think of Jehovah in the matter at all ; but in the end he 
was constrained to confess that Providence was stronger 
than his prison. For some days, indeed, nothing occurred 
to disturb his equanimity. It was the very night before the 
coming spectacle. It was probably the last watch of the 
night ; all arrangements had been made ; and he was, per- 
haps, by anticipation congratulating himself on the splendor 
of the show which the morrow was to usher in, when, all si- 
lently and divinely, his prisoner was taken out of his hands. 

How this was accomplished is minutely told us in the nar- 
rative. The brethren of the Church were unceasing and 
earnest in their prayers on Peter's behalf. The ear of Her- 
od was denied them ; and even though they could have ob- 
tained access to him, there was little hope of moving him 
from his determination ; but they made supplication unto 
God. Beautiful exceedingly is this trait in the character of 
these simple-hearted ones. They were not anxious for their 



306 Peter, the Apostle. 

own safety merely, but tenderly attached to Peter, who had 
been so identified with the early history of the Church, and 
who, by his zeal and affection, had endeared himself to them 
all. Therefore they brought his case to Jesus. Nay, seeing 
days of darkness settling down upon the spiritual society of 
which they were members, and knowing how valuable the 
son of Jonas was as a counselor and leader, they were anx- 
ious for the future of the Church. " Their hearts trembled 
for the ark of God •" and to God, its omnipotent protector 
and sure defense, they made their appeal. We know not 
how they shaped their supplications, or what it was precisely 
that they asked ; but we may conjecture that they earnestly 
besought either that he might be delivered, or that he might 
be sustained and strengthened so to die as to demonstrate 
to every beholder the beauty and power of that truth which 
he had so earnestly proclaimed. Nay, the very remembrance 
of that former deliverance, the report of which, perhaps, made 
Herod guard the prison so securely, would make them more 
earnest and believing in their prayers. They had no mis- 
givings as to God's willingness to hear or ability to help; 
and so they agreed to meet each other at the throne of 
grace, and make united supplication for the much - loved 
apostle ; for had they not this as their warrant : " If any two 
of you shall agree on earth touching any thing, ye shall ask 
the Father in my name, and it shall be given you ?" 

And what, meanwhile, of Peter ? The sacred historian is 
silent concerning his prison exercises \ but we can not doubt 
that he, too, would commit his cause to his Redeemer, and 
would calmly and peacefully wait the issue. The next day, 
so far as he knew, was to see his public execution ; but he 
would sleep as usual. So, unbinding his girdle, and throw- 
ing off his upper garment, and loosing his sandals, he lay 
down to rest. We may not argue too much from this, indeed, 
for many of the vilest malefactors have slept soundly on the 



Peter Prayed Out of Prison. 307 

eve of their death • yet if an eloquent historian and a brill- 
iant artist have both singled out the " Last Sleep of Ar- 
gyle " as a beautiful and touching illustration of the calm 
composure which a peaceful conscience gives, even in the 
most appalling circumstances, we may surely be excused for 
remarking on the deep slumber of Peter here. On the one 
hand, we may see in it the evidence of his spiritual tranquil- 
lity, and, on the other, we may view it as a signal instance 
of the benignity of him who "giveth his beloved sleep." 
And who would not prefer the rest of the apostle, though his 
couch was in a prison, and his hands were manacled, to that 
of Herod in his palace, surrounded with all the luxuries of 
rank and wealth ? Better far the clanking chains that bind 
the limbs than those more insidious bonds that fetter the 
soul. 

But not long now was Peter to be fettered ; for, all un- 
challenged by the sentinels, the angel of the Lord entered 
the cell, and awoke the apostle while yet his keepers slept. 
He bade him rise up quickly, and, as he rose, the chains fell 
from his hands. He commanded him to gird himself, and 
bind on his sandals — for when God works there is no undue 
haste; and then, asking him to cast his upper garment round 
him, he said, " Follow me." Scarcely knowing whether he 
were " in the body or out of the body," and hardly believ- 
ing that he was not in a trance, the apostle accompanied 
him. They passed in safety the other two guards who had 
been so warily posted; and when they came to the outer 
gate of iron that opened into the city, lo ! it swung back 
of itself before them, and they stood upon the street ! Then 
all need of miracle was over, and the angelic messenger de- 
parted, leaving Peter in a state of bewilderment. But soon 
he came to see how it had been, and acknowledging God's 
care over him, he turned his steps to the house of Mary, 
whose son, John Mark, was already known in the Church. 



308 Peter, the Apostle. 

There, all untimely as was the hour, many were assembled 
in earnest prayer. The portress came to the gate as he 
knocked, and, recognizing his well-known voice, she ran to 
tell the news that he was there, instead of opening the gate, 
as a sensible girl should have done. The friends would not 
believe her words. They insisted that she had seen an ap- 
parition like the apostle, or that she had been visited by his 
guardian angel ; for Jesus had declared that every one of 
his dear ones has a guardian angel before God's face ; and 
they believed — whether rightly or wrongly, the historian does 
not tell us — that such ministering spirits may occasionally 
appear in the likeness of him whom it is their office to 
attend. 

In their controversy about this matter, one wonders that 
none of them should have thought of going directly to the 
gate and making personal investigation; but the circum- 
stances were so unusual that we may well excuse the flutter 
into which they were put. Meanwhile the knocking contin- 
ued; and when at length the gate was opened, there, in 
reality, was Peter, and they were astonished. They had 
been praying for his deliverance, and when the answer came 
they were surprised. Alas ! it has been often so since. 
Our faith is so feeble that when an answer to our supplica- 
tions comes, it takes us by surprise ; whereas, if we were 
really believing, the wonder would be that an answer should 
not come. 

The appearance of Peter was the occasion of much in- 
quiry among them all. Many of them were speaking at 
once, and a kind of confusion ensued ; but with a presence 
of mind greater than that of any in the meeting, Peter real- 
ized the danger in which he stood, and so, proclaiming si- 
lence by the beckoning of his hand, he told them all that 
God had clone for him, and commanded them to inform the 
members of the Church in general, and in particular James 



Peter Prayed Out of Prison. 309 

(usually called the Less, and sometimes denominated the 
Lord's brother), of his deliverance. Thereafter he departed 
to seek safety by prudent concealment. 

In the morning great consternation was felt when it was 
known that the prisoner had escaped ; and Herod, in his 
wrath, caused the keepers to be put to death. His fine 
scheme of a public execution had been frustrated, but his 
proud heart had not been humbled ; for he went immedi- 
ately to Cesarea, and, as we know from Josephus, began to 
hold a great festival in honor of Claudius. Either it was 
the celebration of the emperor's birthday, or the observance 
of the games known as the "Quinquennalia," or fifth -year 
exhibition ; or, as is most likely, a special festival to mark 
the triumphant return of Claudius from Great Britain, where 
he had conquered some of the native princes. During these 
games, he publicly received a deputation from the inhabit- 
ants of Tyre and Sidon, with whom he had been at variance. 
It does not appear that there had been any actual war ; but 
as the people in Sidonia depended almost entirely on Pal- 
estine for their supplies of food, it was very inconvenient for 
them to have any rupture of any sort with the king; so, hav- 
ing, probably by a handsome gift, secured the good offices 
of Blastus, the chamberlain, they obtained a reconciliation, 
and in their fulsome adulation used words of blasphemy, 
which Herod knew were altogether inappropriate to him, but 
which he did not put from him. In the midst of all this 
pomp, he was smitten with a deadly disease in the bowels, 
and in five days he was no more. 

The history of Josephus is here so interesting, and so 
tends not only to confirm, but also to illustrate, the narrative 
before me, that I shall transcribe it entirely. You will ob- 
serve, as I do so, how characteristic it is of divine inspira- 
tion that Luke makes no mention of the ill-omened owl, 
Which is so prominent in the story of the Jew : " Now, when 

s 



310 Peter, the Apostle. 

Agrippa had reigned three years over all Judea, he came to 
the city Cesarea, which was formerly called Strato's tow- 
er ; and there he exhibited shows in honor of Cesar, upon 
his being informed that there was a certain festival cele- 
brated to make vows for his safety. At which festival a 
great multitude was gotten together of the principal persons 
and such as were of dignity through his province. On the 
second day of the shows, he put on a garment of silver tissue, 
and of a texture truly wonderful, and came into the theatre 
early in the morning. The silver of his garment, being illu- 
minated by the fresh reflection of the sun's rays upon it, 
shone out after a surprising manner, and was so resplendent 
as to spread a horror over those that looked intently upon 
him. Presently his flatterers cried out, one from one place, 
and another from another (though not for his good), that he 
was a god ; and they added, 'Be thou merciful to us; for al- 
though we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man, yet 
shall we henceforth own thee as superior to mortal nature.' 
Upon this the king did neither rebuke them nor reject 
their impious flattery. But as he presently afterward looked 
up, he saw an owl sitting on a certain rope over his head, 
and immediately understood that this bird was the messen- 
ger of evil tidings, as it had once been the messenger of 
good tidings to him, and fell into the deepest sorrow. A 
severe pain also arose in his belly, and began in a most vio- 
lent manner. He therefore looked upon his friends, and 
said, ' I whom you call a god am commanded presently to 
depart this life. While Providence thus reproves tne lying 
words you just now said to me, and I, who was by you called 
immortal, am immediately to be hurried away by death. 
But I am bound to accept of what Providence allots, as it 
pleases God ; for we have by no means lived ill, but in a 
splendid and happy manner.' When he had said this, his 
pain became violent. Accordingly, he was carried into his 



^eter Prayed Out of Prison. 311 

palace ; and when he had been quite worn out by the pain, 
in five days he departed this life."* Thus far Josephus. 
Luke, as himself a medical man, tells us the nature of his 
disease: "He was eaten of worms;" and with deep sugges- 
tiveness, after this proof of the transient glory of earthly 
greatness, he adds, " but the word of God grew and multi- 
plied." 

And now, having given such amplification and explication 
as seemed needful to the full understanding of the history, 
I close by enforcing one or two practical inferences. 

Let us learn, in the first place, the true unity of the Chris- 
tian Church. The Apostle Paul has told us that when one 
member of the body suffers, all the members suffer with it, 
and here we see how the assault that was made on Peter af- 
fected all the saints in Jerusalem. They knew that the 
Church did not rest on him, but was founded on the Lord 
Jesus Christ. They believed also that even if Peter had 
been put to death at this time, God could and would have 
raised up another who should enter into his labors, and carry 
on the work with which the son of Jonas was identified. Yet 
they could not contemplate his removal from them without 
dismay. He had been a leader among them. They had 
been accustomed to rely on his judgment. They had learn- 
ed to love him for the frankness of his nature and the gen- 
erous impulses of his heart; and they could hardly conceive 
what the Church would be like without him. They felt re- 
garding him as Luther felt regarding Melanchthon on that 
memorable occasion when, with amazing boldness, the great 
Reformer told the Lord that he could not do without his 
Philip, and must have him by his side. And so they had in 
him not an interest of benevolence alone, but one of identity. 
They were afflicted in his affliction, and Peter's extremity 

* Josephus, " Antiquities," 19, 8, 2. 



312 Peter, the Apostle. 

was their extremity. Indeed, so far as appears, the concern 
throughout was felt by them rather than by him. He was, 
we may suppose, like Paul, in that strange dilemma — not 
knowing what to choose; having a desire to depart and to 
be with Christ, yet willing to remain in the flesh for their 
sakes. But they were deeply moved. 

Now, all this illustrates the unity of the Church of Christ. 
Let one child in the home be smitten with disease, and all 
the members of the family are deeply affected. Let some 
public-spirited patriot be stricken by some terrible calamity, 
and the whole nation feels the blow. But even more keenly 
than in such cases as these the Christian feels the affliction 
of a brother in the Lord ; and if the troubled one be emi- 
nent as a leader in the sacramental host, the feeling is pro- 
portionately intense. 

There is nothing which merges relationship into identity 
so thoroughly as the Gospel. In Christ we are all one ; and 
so each feels the other's woe. But then, on the other hand, 
Christ feels with us all ; for "in all our afflictions he is afflict- 
ed, and the angel of his presence saves us." This is the true 
brotherhood. Better than all secret badges, or mystic grasps, 
or talismanic pass-words, is this " union in Christ ;" for it 
opens every Christian's heart to us, and gives each believer 
a personal interest in our welfare. The Church of Christ 
ought to be the most helpful and loving society in the world; 
and if it were what it ought to be, there would be no clamor- 
ing or craving among men for some other association to meet 
their needs. If you wish to keep your neighbor from steal- 
ing the water from your spring, you must dig deeper than 
he ; and if we would do away with the necessity for all mys- 
tic associations, we must make the Church of Christ more 
like its divine ideal than it is now among us. 

Let us learn, in the second place, the power of earnest, be- 
lieving, and united prayer. Observe this statement made by 



Peter Prayed Out of Prison. 313 

the historian : " Prayer was made without ceasing, of the 
Church unto God for him ;" and then mark how the answer 
came. It was long delayed. The last night had arrived. The 
hearts of the suppliants might be beginning to fail, yet they 
continued their petitioning, and lo ! at the darkest hour the 
dawn began to break ! Now here is an example for us. We 
are not warranted to expect such answers as that which in 
those days of miracle was vouchsafed to the Church of Jeru- 
salem ; yet I do not hesitate to say that God would sooner 
work a miracle like that here described than suffer his faith- 
fulness to fail, or let his cause be permanently put back. For 
the resources of the universe are at his command, and it is 
equally easy for him to answer prayer through the ordinary 
operations of his providence, or through the bringing of new 
causes into operation. 

What we have to remember is that he is the hearer of 
prayer. We do' not thoroughly believe that, else there would 
be more definiteness, directness, and what I may call bus- 
iness-like purpose in our petitions. We do not receive, be- 
cause we do not ask. Ts it not the fact that when we have 
concluded our devotions, it would often puzzle us to tell 
what we have been praying for? And then when we have 
asked for certain things, we have become discouraged be- 
cause we have not had an immediate answer. Have we for- 
gotten the story of the Syrophenician woman ? or the in- 
junction of the Lord that we are to "knock that it may be 
opened unto us?" Why are we thus disheartened? and why- 
are God's answers thus delayed ? It may be because, in our 
pride of heart, we are desirous of sharing in the glory of the 
answer. Have you marked these words in the doxology to 
the Lord's Prayer, " for thine is the glory ?" Ah ! when we 
are willing that all the glory shall go to God, the blessing is 
not far from our hands. Or, again, it may be because God 
wishes to develop patience in us, or to bring our faith to some 

14 



314 Peter, the Apostle. 

such height as that of her to whom he said, " Oh, woman, 
great is thy faith !" But, in any case, if we were more defi- 
nite in our petitions, and more continuous in our prayers, we 
should see more frequently the results for which we long. 
The philosophy and the discussions of our times have made 
us feel almost as if we needed to apologize for offering prayer; 
and so even the Church has been weakened by the material- 
ism of the age. But all that is the merest folly ; for if we 
believe that God is — or, to put it in another form, that there 
is a God — then he can help his creatures when they call 
upon him. 

They tell us of the fixed laws of nature ; but who dares 
maintain that He who fixed these laws can not use them 
for the purpose of answering his people's prayers ? There 
are postal laws in this country; but are the facilities for 
answering letters through these laws open to all but those 
members of Congress who have made them ? The very 
thought is absurd. And yet men who are using the laws 
of nature every day to help their fellows when they call 
on them — like medical men, for example — will deny to the 
God who made these laws the liberty which they are daily 
exercising for themselves. Nay, more ; may not God, as in 
this case before us, sometimes send an answer to his serv- 
ant, as I may say, by the hand of an angelic express ? If I 
do not put a letter in the pillar at the street-corner, may I 
not in my chamber telegraph for a message-boy, and send 
him on with an immediate answer? and am I breaking the 
postal laws when I do that? Nay, I am only bringing a new 
cause into operation for the producing of a new effect. I 
may send my little liveried telegraph messenger, but God 
may not send his angel ! Oh, brethren ! when one thinks 
of the learned nonsense that has been written on this sub- 
ject, it is hard to speak regarding it in terms of moderation. 
But argument will not answer it. Nothing will put a stop 



Peter Prayed Out of Prison. 315 

to it save the earnest prayerfulness of Christ's own people. 
Give us a few John Knoxes in the Church concerning whom 
men will say, "We fear their prayers more than armed an- 
tagonists," and then we shall hear no more of prayer-gauges, 
and be able to defy all the objections of philosophy. The 
Church of Jerusalem prayed Peter out of prison. Let that 
fact sustain us while we supplicate for those who are spirit- 
ually imprisoned, that they may be set free. 

Let us learn, in the third place, that while earthly glory 
fades, the word of the Lord endureth forever. See how soon 
Herod disappears. Like a foam-bell on the stream, he daz- 
zled men's eyes for a moment with the reflection of the sun- 
light ; and then, like it too, he burst and disappeared. The 
shouting of the idolatrous crowd could not keep away retri- 
bution from his door. No Roman sentinel could turn back 
from his palace-gate that pale horse which bore the rider 
whose name is Death. He went to his own place. And all 
his efforts to retard the progress of the Gospel were in vain, 
for "the word of God grew and multiplied." 

Even as a policy, persecution is a mistake ; for it always 
haloes with a certain glory the cause of those who suffer. 
Therefore, though the Gospel had been false, the course of 
Herod regarding it was, in the parlance of Talleyrand, "worse 
than a crime — a blunder." But being true, the antagonism 
of the king brought it only into greater prominence, and 
turned the hearts of the people to its acceptance. 

Trial matures the Christian, and brings into greater con- 
spicuousness the graces of patience, fortitude, faith, and for- 
giveness of injuries ; so that they who look upon the con- 
fessor in the court, or the martyr at the stake, are moved to 
think of Him in whose strength alone, and for whose sake 
alone, these characteristics are manifested. Thus it has 
come that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. 
This has been the case in all ages. The death of Stephen 



316 Peter, the Apostle. 

had its glorious outcome in the conversion of Paul ; and in 
the early days of the Scottish Reformation it was said that 
the smoke of Patrick Hamilton infected all on whom it blew. 
So, in the present day, the sources of that great religious 
movement which has changed the whole face of the island 
of Madagascar are to be found in the persecutions with 
which the first Christians there were assailed. It is another 
application of the Saviour's words, " Except a corn of wheat 
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, 
it bringeth forth much fruit." There are worse things than 
persecution for Christ's sake, and among these is that sup- 
ple conformity to the world, that easy indifference, which 
bends to every influence, and has no principle of resistance 
in it. That way lies the danger of the Church of to-day ; 
and it would not suffer from a storm if only the chaff were 
to be thereby separated from the wheat. Indeed, it never 
really suffers from persecution, for the true Church is as in- 
destructible as Christ, and " the gates of hell shall not pre- 
vail against it." 

I can not allow myself to conclude this discourse without 
bringing before you a little poem by a gifted Presbyterian 
minister of England,* now in heaven, which in the most ex- 
quisite manner uses the apostolic narrative to illustrate the 
death of the Christian, and to administer consolation to the 
bereaved. Never since I first saw it have I been able to 
read this chapter without recalling its exquisite lines to mem- 
ory ; and I am sure that many among you will thank me for 
bringing them to your notice. They are as follows : 

" The apostle slept ; a light shone in the prison ; 
An angel touched his side ; 
'Arise !' he said, and quickly he hath risen, 
His fettered arms untied. 

* The Rev. J. D. Burns, of Hampstead, London. 



Peter Prayed Out of Prison. 

" The watchers saw no light at midnight gleaming, 
They heard no sound of feet ; 
The gates fly open, and the saint, still dreaming, 
Stands free upon the street. 

"So when the Christian's eyelid droops and closes, 
In nature's parting strife, 
A friendly angel stands where he reposes, 
To wake him up to life. 

"He gives a gentle blow, and so releases 
The spirit from its clay ; 
From sin's temptations and from life's distresses 
He bids it come away. 

" It rises up, and from its darksome mansion 
It takes its silent flight ; 
And feels its freedom in the large expansion 
Of heavenly air and light. 

" Behind, it hears Time's iron gates close faintly ; 
It is now far from them ; 
For it has reached the city of the saintly — 
The new Jerusalem. 

"A voice is heard on earth of kinsfolk weeping 
The loss of one they love ; 
But he is gone where the redeemed are keeping 
A festival above. 

" The mourners throng the ways, and from the steeple 
The funeral bell tolls slow ; 
But on the golden streets the holy people 
Are passing to and fro ; 

"And saying, as they meet, 'Rejoice ! another, 
Long waited for, is come :' 
The Saviour's heart is glad, a younger brother 
Hath reached the Father's home." 



3 l 7 



XXI. 

PETER WITHS1V0D BY PAUL AT ANTIOCH. 

Galatians ii., 11-21. 

AFTER the escape of Peter from the prison at Jerusa- 
lem, he does not appear again in the apostolic narra- 
tive until the meeting of the council which was held for the 
settlement of the circumcision controversy. That discus- 
sion had originated at Antioch, whither certain Jews had 
gone from Jerusalem, and where they had insisted that con- 
formity to the law of Moses was essential to salvation even 
through Christ. Paul and Barnabas, who were in Antioch 
at the time, and who saw the gravity of the crisis, affecting, 
as it did, the great doctrine of justification by faith, and the 
hope of the Gentile nations, met these strangers with un- 
compromising opposition. But as they came from the Holy 
City, and might seem, therefore, to be acting under the sanc- 
tion of the mother Church, it was determined that certain 
delegates should accompany Barnabas and Paul to Jerusa- 
lem, to submit the whole question to the apostles and elders 
there. 

When the assembly was convened, there was at first con- 
siderable discussion ; but at length Peter gave the weight of 
his influence in favor of the fullest freedom to the Gentile 
believers. He rehearsed again the incidents which in his 
own experience had happened before and after his preach- 
ing in the household of Cornelius, and characterized the 
law of Moses as a yoke which neither they nor their fathers 
had been able to bear. 



Peter Withstood by Paul at Antioch. 319 

He was followed by Barnabas and Paul, who "declared 
what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the 
Gentiles by them." And then James came forward with a 
compromise, which, after the sweeping statements of Peter, 
the assembly was now quite ready to accept. He was care- 
ful, however, in the outset, to declare his perfect agreement 
in principle with Peter, and expressed his conviction that 
God had prepared for himself a people from among the Gen- 
tiles. These statements he fortified by an appeal to the 
prophecy of Amos, which must have had great weight with 
those who were willing to be taught out of the Scriptures. 
He could not think, therefore, of compelling the Gentiles to 
submit to circumcision, for that would have been to give up 
the principle which he had first assented to ; but he coun- 
seled, not as a matter of absolute duty, but as a thing ex- 
pedient in the circumstances, that they should abstain from 
those practices which were particularly offensive to a scrupu- 
lous Jew, namely, from eating meat offered to idols, from 
blood, from strangled animals, and from fornication. This 
advice met with general acceptance, and on its being re- 
duced to writing, it was sent to Antioch by the hands of Ju- 
das Barsabas and Silas. 

Thus far, therefore, Paul and Peter were in absolute har- 
mony. The apostle of the Gentiles could not have wished 
for a broader assertion of the abrogation of the law of Mo- 
ses than that which had been made by the apostle of the 
circumcision ; and though they might have preferred a de- 
cree which would have been more sweeping in its terms, 
they were both willing, for the sake of weaker brethren, to 
sacrifice liberty for peace. 

But not long after this amicable settlement of the ques- 
tion at Jerusalem, Peter himself seems to have visited Anti- 
och, and then it was that he was guilty of such vacillation 
as constrained Paul to withstand him to the face. 



320 Peter, the Apostle. 

The only account which we have of the circumstances is 
that which Paul has given in the Epistle to the Galatians, 
and from that it appears that at first Peter mingled freely 
with the Gentiles, even eating with them, and going out and 
in among them, just as he would have done if they had been 
Jews. But after a time, some scrupulous believers from Je- 
rusalem made their appearance at Antioch, and then, from 
fear of offending them, he "withdrew and separated him- 
self." The effect of such conduct in such a man was very 
pernicious, for the Jewish members of the Antioch Church 
followed his example, and even Barnabas also was carried 
away by what Paul has called their dissimulation. We can 
readily understand the case. Peter had not changed his 
principles. Had any one asked him, even at that moment, 
whether circumcision were necessary to salvation, he would 
have answered, without the least degree of hesitation, No. 
But the men from Jerusalem got round him, and wrought 
upon his fears. They represented, perhaps, that a great out- 
cry would be made against his conduct by his friends in the 
Holy City ; that the course which he was taking would cre- 
ate controversy, and develop antagonism ; that it would se- 
riously interfere w r ith his future comfort, and mar his after- 
usefulness ; and that if he had any regard whatever for his 
own happiness, he should at once retrace his steps. So, by 
confining his attention to that view of the case, and careful- 
ly shutting out every other consideration, they effected their 
purpose ; and, after they had succeeded with him, it was 
easy to bring over Barnabas, for even his failings leaned in 
the direction of amiability ; and if it could be shown to him 
that the course suggested would be agreeable to his old 
friends at Jerusalem, then he would t>e moved to take it. 

But there was another side to all this, and that Paul, from 
his intense interest in the Gentiles, was the first to see. It 
was a change of conduct which in the circumstances would 



Peter Withstood by Paul at Antioch. 321 

be held as resulting from a change of conviction. But Paul 
knew that neither Peter nor Barnabas had altered his opin- 
ion on the main question. Therefore, in assuming this at- 
titude toward the Gentiles they were guilty of dissimulation ; 
that is to say, they appeared to be what they really were not. 
While Peter believed as he had always done since his visit 
to Cornelius, his refusal now to eat with the Gentiles was 
virtually also a refusal to regard them as brethren, a confir- 
mation of the prejudice against them as unclean, and a vio- 
lation of the compromise agreed upon at Jerusalem. 

His error was not one of doctrine, but of practice ; and so 
they are entirely at fault here who bring up this difference 
between the apostles as if it disproved the inspiration of ei- 
ther or of both. Inspiration is one thing, sanctifkation is 
another. Both, indeed, are the effects of the work of the 
Holy Spirit in the soul. In the one he employs the powers 
of the mind for the communication of truth to others ; in 
the other he operates in the formation of the character of 
the individual himself. There may be inspiration without 
sanctifkation, as in the case of such a one as Balaam ; and 
there may be sanctifkation without inspiration, as in the ex- 
perience of believers among ourselves. 

In respect of inspiration, the two apostles were upon an 
equality; and the sermons and epistles of Peter are in per- 
fect harmony with the discourses and letters of Paul. But 
in respect of sanctifkation, they were different. Each had 
his own distinctive excellencies, and each his own character- 
istic defects. In Peter there was a generous impulsiveness, 
which sometimes made him the first in noble daring; and 
occasionally, as in the instance before us, led him to act 
with flagrant inconsistency. In Paul there was a sensitive- 
ness of conscience, which while, as in this case, it moved 
him to stand up for the right, did sometimes border upon a 
sternness that was in danger of breaking the bruised reed 



322 Peter, the Apostle. 

and quenching the smoking flax. They were both imper- 
fectly sanctified men, and one may see at a glance that the 
conduct of Peter here is quite in keeping with the disposi- 
tion which he so frequently manifested while the Saviour 
was on the earth. As Lightfoot has well said, "It is at 
least no surprise that he who at one moment declared him- 
self ready to lay down his life for his Lord's sake, and even 
drew his sword in defense of his Master, and the next be- 
trayed him with a thrice-repeated denial, should have acted 
in this case as we infer he acted from the combined ac- 
counts of Luke and Paul. There is the same impulsive cour- 
age, followed by the same shrinking timidity. And though 
Paul's narrative stops short of the last scene in this drama, 
it would not be rash to conclude that it ended as the oth- 
er had ended • that the revulsion of feeling was as sudden 
and complete ; and that again he went out and wept bitter- 
ly, having denied his Lord in the person of these Gentile 
converts."* 

It scarcely belongs to a series of discourses on the life 
and character of Peter to take cognizance of the procedure 
of Paul at this trying time ; yet we can not present a com- 
plete account of the case without including his protest. He 
felt that something ought to be done to counteract the evil 
which otherwise would result from the conduct of Peter; 
and nothing could have been better than the course which 
he adopted. He went directly to his friend, and publicly 
exposed the inconsistency of which publicly he had been 
guilty. He knew that Peter's deepest convictions were al- 
ready on his side. He wished to make his appeal from Pe- 
ter in a panic to Peter calm and rational. And in making 
that appeal he was sure that Peter had a generous affection 
for himself, and a genuine loyalty to the Lord Jesus, and 

* " St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians^' by J. B. Lightfoot, D.D., p. 128. 



Peter Withstood by Paul at Antioch. 323 

was deeply interested in the promotion of the Gospel among 
the Gentiles as well as among the Jews. 

This explains both the frankness and the fidelity of his 
address ; which presents the finest possible combination of 
firmness with delicacy, and faithfulness with affection. It 
would well repay the most minute consideration; but I must 
be content with setting before you the substance of the argu- 
ment which it contains, in the shape of an expansion of his 
words. It is something like the following : 

If you who are a Jew by birth, and therefore have been 
brought up under the law of Moses, feel yourself at liberty to 
disregard its prohibitions, and to live, as you were doing a 
little while ago, after the manner of the Gentiles, it is absurd 
in you to oblige the Gentiles to conform to all the require- 
ments of the Jewish law. You do not, indeed, insist on that 
in so many words ; but still the natural inference from your 
present withdrawal from the Gentile Christians is, that you 
have now come to believe that circumcision is essential to sal- 
vation. For this is not a case of conforming to the wishes 
of a weak brother ; it is a complying with the demands of 
those who say, " Except ye be circumcised after the man- 
ner of Moses, ye can not be saved." Now observe how 
your conduct affects the fundamental principles of the Gos- 
pel. We who are Jews, having become convinced that we 
could not be justified by the works of the law, have sought 
salvation through faith in Christ ; but if in so doing we are, 
after all, found to be transgressors, because we have will- 
fully neglected the law as an appointed means of salva- 
tion, then it must follow that Christ, who taught us to neg- 
lect it in that relation, has been to us the minister of sin. 
That is a conclusion from which, of course, you will shrink 
with horror ; still, you must be prepared to face it, or you 
must admit that by your present conduct you have made 
yourself a transgressor. There is transgression somewhere. 



324 Peter, the Apostle. 

If you were wrong before in eating with the Gentiles, then, 
as you did that under the direct command of the Lord given 
to you in a vision, he was to you the minister of sin. But 
if you were right before, then you are wrong now, and you 
are yourself the transgressor. There is no other alterna- 
tive ; and I know you so well that, when the matter is put 
before you in this way, there will be no hesitation in your 
mind as to the course you should adopt. Indeed, the sim- 
ple truth is, that as a believer in Christ I have now no more 
to do with the law of Moses for my justification. Through 
the law itself, that is to say, through having its requirements 
satisfied, and its curse endured by Christ for me, I died to 
the law : not, however, that I might live a lawless life, but 
rather that I might live wholly to God. Nay, such is my 
union to the Redeemer that I am crucified with him, and it 
is no longer I that live, but he that liveth in me ; for the life 
that I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, 
who loved me and gave himself for me. Hence I do not 
make the grace of God unnecessary, as I should certainly do 
if I were to go back to the law for salvation ; for if it were 
possible to obtain righteousness by the law, then there was 
no necessity for the death of Christ. 

There is nothing said as to how Peter received this admo- 
nition ; but, from what we know of his character and tempera- 
ment, we may conclude that he frankly owned his error, so 
that the Gospel might not be hindered; and we are sure 
that the affair left no poison of bitterness behind it, for long 
afterward Peter writes of the apostle of the Gentiles as "our 
beloved brother Paul." 

Two different sets of lessons may be drawn from this sub- 
ject, according as we look at Peter's procedure or at Paul's ; 
and it will give completeness to our treatment of it, if we 
set them both briefly and pointedly before you. 

Looking, then, at Peter's conduct, we may learn that it 



Peter Withstood by Paul at Antioch. 325 

is never safe to act from one-sided views of things. The 
strangers from Jerusalem so buzzed about our apostle that 
they gave him no time to think all round the subject. They 
filled his ears with their forebodings of panic, and so moved 
his heart with the thought of the storm which they alleged 
he would have to meet on his return to the Holy City, that 
he became alarmed and hastily decided to take his place 
among them. I do not know whether in planning their 
campaign at Antioch these Jews took Peter's temperament 
into consideration, but impulsive men are ever open to just 
such management ; and they who care to descend to work 
upon their fears are generally sure to win them over in the 
end. I do not mean to convey the impression that Peter 
was always willowy and pliant in his nature. We know oth- 
erwise. We saw him in the Council stand bravely before 
the rulers, and shall never forget his ringing words of un- 
wavering decision, "We ought to obey God rather than 
men." So it will not do to call him a coward. Neither, 
from an incident like this, should we be warranted to style 
him a traitor. The truth seems to be that he was stricken 
with panic, as when he was trying to walk upon the waters, 
and when he was set upon by the maid -servant and the 
lackeys of the high-priest. 

He was afraid, first of all, to stand out against these Jews, 
who had come to Antioch ; and finding him in that mood, 
they frightened him still farther, by conjuring up before his 
imagination a terrible ordeal through which he would have 
to pass when he went back to Jerusalem, and so he yielded. 
But he took no note of the injury which he was doing to the 
Gospel, of the sorrow which he was inflicting upon Paul, or of 
the dishonor which he was doing to Christ. " Truly the fear 
of man bringeth a snare." We are never safe so long as we 
contemplate any course of conduct simply and only in the 
light of the opinions of our fellow-men. We have to view it 



326 Peter, the Apostle. 

as in the sight of God ; and it was because Peter neglected 
to do that on this occasion that he fell so grievously. 

It is worthy of remark in this connection that when Christ 
himself was set upon by Satan, he lifted the enticements 
which the adversary put before him up above all merely hu- 
man considerations, and put them in the light of God. To 
the first he answered, " Man shall not live by bread alone, 
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." 
In the second he replied, " Thou shalt not tempt the Lord 
thy God;" and he met the third with these words, "Thou 
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou 
serve." 

Now, in all this we are taught that our only safeguard is 
to go to God for the solution of every question of conduct. 
Truly has the Psalmist said, "In thy light shall we see 
light clearly." And when we are doing that which is right 
in the sight of God, we need not -be afraid of men. Peter 
knew that perfectly ; for as we saw when he was before the 
Council, he lifted the whole question in debate above the 
sphere of earthly tribunals, and said, "Whether it be right in 
the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, 
judge ye." But doing is different from knowing, and the 
fact that even such a one as Peter failed to carry out a prin- 
ciple which he had himself so fully enunciated ought to be 
a warning to us. 

Let us not take counsel too largely with flesh and blood. 
Whether we act from a regard to the good-will of men, or 
from the fear of giving men offense, or with the view of mak- 
ing them feel that we are cold and distant to them, we are 
equally at fault. The first thing we ought always to seek is 
to please God. The determining elements, at all times of 
hesitancy, ought to be these : What will the Lord Jesus 
Christ have me to do ? How will my conduct either way af- 
fect the Gospel of Christ? What is the right in the case as 



Peter Withstood by Paul at Antioch. 327 

between God and my conscience ? And when we have these 
answered, let us go forward, no matter who may be displeased, 
or what predictions of strife and storm and suffering the pe- 
trels of alarm may utter. Who were these Jews that. Peter 
should have feared them so ? Had not God twice over de- 
livered him from prison, and was he not able to protect him 
still ? Ah ! what a firm hold nature has upon a man ! He 
who drew his sword in the presence of the Roman band could 
not stand the banter of a silly girl. He who patiently en- 
dured persecution at the hands of Herod fears these Jewish 
members of the Christian Church. Yet let us not condemn 
him overmuch, for if we look within we may find a Peter in 
each breast among us. 

Looking again at Peter's bearing here, we may learn that 
when we are withstood for being in the wrong we should 
take it meekly, and retrace our steps as speedily as possible. 
I believe that Paul's appeal was not in vain. He was too 
noble to include in a letter to the Galatians any thing which 
might seem to humiliate his brethren ; but from what we 
know of Peter on other occasions, we may conclude that he 
was as willing to confess his fault as he had been rash and 
inconsiderate in its commission. Indeed, the careful student 
of his epistles will discover that in this very matter he is in 
them perfectly at one with Paul. In the letter to the Gala- 
tions, the one apostle has said, "Ye have been called unto 
liberty : only use not your liberty for an occasion to the flesh, 
but by love serve one another ;" and in his first epistle the 
other has these words : "As free, and not using your liberty 
for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God." 
We infer, therefore, that he accepted Paul's rebuke in the 
spirit of meekness. Very evidently he did not believe in his 
own infallibility ; and he was far from resenting the course 
which Paul had pursued. Now, in all this there was a mag- 
nanimity which was worthy of all praise. So far as appears, 



328 Peter, the Apostle. 

he did not become excited, and exclaim against Paul for pre- 
suming to think that he could be wrong ; but he did a far 
more difficult and more noble thing : he acknowledged his 
fault, and did his best to undo its evil consequences. Now, 
here was a triumph of grace. It may seem a paradox to say 
it, but there are few things which test a man's real Christian- 
ity more than his bearing when he is found fault with for that 
which is actually blameworthy. It is easy to guard against 
giving offense, but it is a harder matter to keep from taking 
offense in such a case as this, and to say, with the Psalmist, 
" Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness ; and let 
him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not 
break my head." 

We all assent to Solomon's proverb, " Open rebuke is bet- 
ter than secret love :" but when the rebuke comes, most of 
us, on the whole, would prefer the love ; and too frequently 
we are disposed to resent the faithfulness of the brother, 
even though he should hint only in the most delicate manner 
that we have been in the wrong. We all have our faults ; 
and when the statement is made in that general fashion, we 
can all assent to it ; only when we do we are thinking of 
other people's faults rather than our own ! We cry out 
against the dogma of papal infallibility, but each of us has 
far too much faith in that of personal infallibility ; for our 
tempers are roused, and our hearts are estranged, by any 
expostulation with us for error or inconsistency. How many 
permanent alienations and pernicious schisms might have 
been prevented, if there had been on the one side the manly 
frankness of Paul, and on the other the ingenuous honesty 
and meekness of Peter, as they come out in this transaction. 

But now, turning to Paul's part in this controversy, we 
may learn from that, first, that before we withstand a broth- 
er, we must be sure that he is to be blamed, and that the 
occasion is such as calls for our protest. Paul would not 



Peter Withstood by Paul at Antioch. 329 

have cared to interfere with Peter in any trifling matter, nor 
would he have felt constrained to move in the case if any 
more charitable construction could have been put upon his 
conduct. No one ever had so full a comprehension of the 
doctrine of Christian liberty as Paul ; and no one was ever 
more jealous of any unwarrantable interference with it than 
was Paul. Hence, if it had not been that the fundamental 
principle of the Gospel was at stake, he would not have said 
a word. In themselves considered, the things which Peter 
had done were indifferent ; but by doing them, in the cir- 
cumstances in which at Antioch he was placed, he had im- 
periled the freeness of salvation through Christ ; and as that 
was dearer to Paul than friendship, or even life itself, he 
could not be silent. He practiced his own charity, which 
" believeth all things j" and if he could have believed that 
Peter's conduct was right from any one point of view, he 
would have honored him ; but seeing no explanation of his 
procedure which was consistent with loyalty to the truth of 
the Gospel, he spoke out against it — in love, indeed, but with 
unmistakable condemnation. Now, let us withstand a broth- 
er only when we are thus constrained to do so by allegiance 
to the truth as it is in Jesus. If in any respects we can not 
approve of his conduct, while yet it is susceptible of expla- 
nation in harmony with Christian principle, let us give him 
the benefit and be silent. But if the glory of the Gospel or 
the purity of the Church be endangered by his procedure, let 
us withstand him. Nothing ought to be dearer to us than 
truth and purity ; and if our brother is indulging in a liberty 
which compromises these, or if he is insisting on an intol- 
erance which would make the gate of life narrower than 
Christ has left it, no influence whatever should prevent us 
from withstanding him : only let us be sure that he is doing 
either of these things before we cry out against him. 

Again, we may learn from Paul's conduct that we must 



330 Peter, the Apostle. 

not be deterred from condemning wrong by the position of 
him who has done it. Peter was an apostle. He was, in 
fact, one of the pillars of the primitive Church ; but Paul 
was not kept, by any consideration of these things, from 
protesting against his injudicious and unseemly vacillation. 
On the contrary, the very prominence of Peter made it all 
the more important that his inconsistency should be exposed 
and rectified. Had he been a mere private member of the 
Church, Paul might have been disposed to pass his conduct 
by with a mild remonstrance. But his very eminence as an 
apostle gave importance to his example, and made it certain 
that, if he remained uncondemnned, great evil would result. 
Hence Paul took the course which he adopted. We may 
be sure that it cost him much to take the stand which he 
felt compelled to assume ; but it would have cost him far 
more to take no notice of his brother's error. It was not, 
therefore, because he loved Peter less, but because he loved 
the Gospel more. Now, it is the same still. Evil in any 
man is dangerous, but it is far more so when it appears in 
the conduct of one who is a leader of the people ■ and, how- 
ever painful it may be to oppose it, duty leaves no alterna- 
tive in such a case. We ought, lovingly, indeed, but firmly 
and courageously, to withstand him. Great eminence may 
command our respect, but Christ and his truth are of more 
importance even than an apostle ; and nothing whatever 
should be allowed by us as an excuse for dishonoring his 
name, or compromising the principles of his Gospel. 

Finally, we may learn from Paul's conduct here that when 
we withstand a brother, it should be to his face. Paul did 
not go hither and thither among the elders and members 
of the Church of Antioch, speaking against Peter and com- 
plaining of his conduct, while, at the same time, he kept re- 
ligious silence concerning it to Peter himself. He did not 
say behind Peter's back that which he was afraid to utter 



Peter Withstood by Paul at Antioch. 331 

before his face ; but he spoke out all that was in his heart 
openly, and to Peter himself. Now, in this also he has left 
us a valuable example. When we have any thing against a 
brother, let us say it to himself. Too often, alas ! a contrary 
method is pursued, both in the Church and in the world, and 
men go round the whole circle of society, turning it into a 
great whispering -gallery, in which they defame the charac- 
ter of one who has no opportunity of vindicating his name. 
" It is very sad, isn't it ? And you must not say that I spoke 
to you upon the subject ; but he has done thus and so, and I 
feel greatly distressed ;" and so it passes on from one to an- 
other, gathering as it goes, until a thing which might have 
been settled at first by a few kindly words assumes a very 
formidable appearance, and perhaps ends in the permanent 
estrangement of the persons more immediately concerned, 
while it produces discord and heart-burning in the whole 
community. If we have any thing to say of a brother, let us 
say it first to him. Let us say nothing in his absence that 
we should be afraid to utter in his presence. Nor does this 
law concern the speaker only ; it has a bearing also on the 
hearer; and when any one comes with an evil report against 
his neighbor, let us refuse to listen to him, unless he can as- 
sure us that he has said all that he is going to utter to the 
person whom it most concerns. " Where no wood is, there 
the fire goeth out ;" and if all to whom evil gossip is retail- 
ed were to shut their ears against it, on the principle which 
I have just enunciated, we should soon banish it from our 
homes. Who would harbor an assassin in his house ? Yet 
the man who strikes at a neighbor's character in his absence 
is as bad as he who, with stealthy stiletto, stabs the unwary 
victim from behind. If we must withstand a brother, there- 
fore, let us do it to his face. 



XXII. 

LETTERS AND LAST DAYS. 

AFTER the incidents which occurred at Antioch, and 
which formed the subject of our last discourse, we 
have no account of Peter in the New Testament until we 
come to his first epistle. Paul, indeed, alludes to a party in 
the Church of Corinth, which called itself after Cephas ; and 
we may almost infer from his words that Peter had been for 
some time in the city on the isthmus ; for as he speaks of 
Cephas precisely as he does of himself and of Apollos, the 
presumption is that the faction had formed itself in connec- 
tion with a personal visit. This is in some degree confirmed 
by the reference made by Paul in the same letter to Peter's 
custom of taking his wife with him in his apostolic journeys, 
which seems to intimate that he had been at Corinth accom- 
^ panied by his partner. But though, in the divided state of 
the Corinthian Church, one section called itself after Ce- 
phas, it must not be supposed that, even if he did visit Cor- 
inth, he was in the least degree responsible for the doings 
of the schismatic party which used his name. 

There is no evidence to show that the ritualistic party in 
the primitive churches received the slightest countenance 
from him, except on the one unfortunate occasion at Anti- 
och, when, under the influence of panic, he was guilty of ap- 
parent vacillation. At all other times he spoke and acted 
in perfect harmony with his utterances at the Council of Je- 
rusalem ; and the manner in which Paul uniformly refers to 
him in his epistles to the Corinthians makes it absolutely 



Letters and Last Days. 333 

certain that Peter was guiltless of doing or saying any thing 
to cause divisions among them. 

When Peter wrote his first epistle (the genuineness of 
which, universally acknowledged in the ancient Church, has 
been fully sustained, after the most searching scrutiny by 
modern critics), he was at Babylon on the Euphrates. An 
attempt, indeed, has been made to prove that this term" 
means Rome ; but such a view is ludicrous in itself, and, for 
the Church in whose interests it is advanced, destructive. 
The dating of a serious letter is not an occasion on which 
one would naturally use an allegorical name. Moreover, it 
was not until long after the publication of the Apocalypse 
that the use of Babylon for Rome became intelligible even 
in an allegorical sense. While, again, if it be insisted on 
that by Babylon Peter actually meant Rome, then to Rome 
must belong the character and doom of the apocalyptic Bab- 
ylon ; so that whatever of prestige the Imperial City might 
claim from the presence of Peter in it when he wrote this 
letter is more than neutralized by the inferences which must 
be drawn from the assumption on which such a claim is 
based. There is, therefore, no good reason to doubt that 
when Peter sent forth this letter he was laboring in the 
well - known city of that name on the banks of the Eu- 
phrates. 

This natural view of the case is confirmed, rather than 
otherwise, by the fact that in its decayed state, and long aft- 
er the great majority of its other inhabitants had left it, Baby- 
lon continued to be the residence of many Jews ; and though 
in the last years of Caligula there had been a persecution of 
the descendants of Abraham there, in consequence of which 
many had fled to Seleucia, yet in the twenty years which had 
elapsed between that date and the time of the writing of this 
letter we may conclude that their number had once more in- 
creased to such an extent as to make the place a most invit- 



334 Peter, the Apostle. 

ing field of labor for him who was pre-eminently the Apostle 
of the Circumcision. 

From the letter itself we learn that Peter was at the mo- 
ment associated with Mark, and that he employed Silvanus 
to carry it to the brethren to whom it is addressed. Now, 
these two facts are interesting from their bearing on the date 
of the epistle, and on the state of feeling between Peter and 
Paul. 

In the first place, as to the date. When Paul wrote, dur- 
ing his first imprisonment, to the Colossians, he speaks of 
Mark as having been a comfort to him at Rome, and says, 
" If he come unto you, receive him." Now that implies that 
Mark was then projecting a journey into Asia. Again, in 
his second letter to Timothy (iv., n), which was written by 
Paul during his second imprisonment, he says, "Take Mark 
and bring him with thee ; for he is profitable to me for the 
ministry." Now, as Timothy was at this time in Asia, we 
have evidence that Mark had carried out his intention, and 
that in the interval between Paul's first and second impris- 
onment he had gone from Rome to the East. But here, in 
Peter's first epistle, he is found with the Apostle of the Cir- 
cumcision at Babylon, and so, as the inference which is most 
natural in all the circumstances of the case, we conclude that 
his visit to Peter was made on the occasion of the journey 
into Asia, to which we have just referred, and thus we date 
this letter at some time between Paul's first and second im- 
prisonment, that is, between the years 63 and 67 of our era. 

But it is no less interesting to remark that these two 
friends who were with Peter when he wrote this letter stood 
high in the confidence of Paul. Mark, indeed, had been the 
occasion of a sharp contention between Paul and Barnabas ; 
but subsequently, as we have just seen, he regained his place 
in the heart of the apostle, and he was one of those for whose 
presence he longed as he lay, weary and lonesome, in the 



Letters and Last Days. 335 

Roman dungeon. Silvanus, whom we identify with the Silas 
of the Acts of the Apostles, had been with Paul in his sec- 
ond journey through Asia Minor into Macedonia. He shared 
his imprisonment at Philippi, and took part in his evangelist- 
ic work at Corinth ; nay, so highly did Paul esteem him, that 
he associated him with himself in his epistles to the Thessa- 
lonians. He stood apparently next to Timothy and Luke in 
the affection and esteem of Paul ; and it is not by any means 
improbable that this visit to Babylon was made by him at 
the suggestion of the Apostle of the Gentiles, for the pur- 
pose of obtaining from Peter some written exhortations 
which might be valuable to the believers scattered through- 
out Asia Minor. 

Now, when we put all these things together, we have a 
beautiful evidence of the truth that these two apostles, in 
spite of the error committed by the one and the protest ut- 
tered by the other at Antioch, were still full of affection for 
each other, and were both characterized by loyalty to Christ. 
Peter, though laboring personally in a city chiefly inhabited 
by Jews, writes to brethren who were principally Gentiles ; 
and in his letter there is no narrow exclusiveness, but rath- 
er the widest comprehension consistent with allegiance to 
Christ, and a spirit perfectly in harmony with the writings 
of his beloved brother Paul. 

The character of the epistle is described by himself in 
these words : " I have written briefly, exhorting and testify- 
ing that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand." 
The letter is thus an exhortation and a testimony, or a se- 
ries of counsels, founded on and confirmed by experience. 
I know not whether, in writing it, the words of the Lord to 
him at the supper-table, "When thou art converted, strength- 
en thy brethren," were distinctly present to his memory ; but 
the establishment of the brotherhood in time of trial was the 
great object which he had in view. 



33 6 Peter, the Apostle. 

Those to whom it was addressed were passing through 
f. persecution, originating partly in their separation from the 
amusements and dissoluteness in which they had lived prior 
to their conversion ; and they are exhorted to stand fast in 
their allegiance to Jesus and his truth. There is not in the 
letter the same logical unity and coherence which we find in 
the more important epistles of Paul, for the writer returns 
again and again to topics which he has already handled ; 
but we have, throughout, the ardor which we have seen so 
frequently in the conduct of its author, while as the result, 
perhaps, of the mellowing influence of years, we have a ten- 
der and pathetic under-tone which moves the heart of every 
reader. 

Two things about it impress every careful student. These 
are, first, the frequent references which its author makes to 
^ the sufferings of Christ ; and, second, the repeated allusions 
which he makes to the future glory of the believer. We 
have not forgotten how, after his noble confession of the 
Lord's Messiahship, when he heard the first plain reference 
to the Master's death, he made rash and unbelieving reply : 
" Be it far from thee, Lord ; this shall not be unto thee." 
But now the richest consolation administered by him to the 
Christian in trial is that he is following in the wake of the 
Lord Jesus, and soon to be a partaker in his glory. The 
pith of his epistle may be given in these two verses (iv., 12, 
13): "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery 
trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing hap- 
pened unto you ; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers 
of Christ's sufferings ; that, when his glory shall be revealed, 
ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." Yet while speak- 
ing directly of the example which Christ, while suffering, left 
^. us, "that we should follow his steps," he is careful also to 
give prominence to the sacrificial character of his death, de- 
claring, as he does, that we " were redeemed with f he pre- 



Letters and Last Days. 337 

cious blood of Christ ;" that " Christ suffered for us ;" that 
" he bare our sins in his own body on the tree ;" that he 
"once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might 
bring us to God ;" and that " he hath suffered for us in the 
flesh." 

Equally remarkable is the frequency of his references to *- 
the future life. As one has well said, " Peter, indeed, might 
be called the apostle of hope. Doctrine and consolation 
alike assume this form. The ' inheritance ' is future, but its 
heirs are begotten to a ' living hope ' (i., 3, 4). Their tried 
faith is found unto glory ' at the appearance of Jesus Christ ' 
(i., 7). The 'end' of their faith is 'salvation' (i., 9) ; and 
they are to 'hope to the end for the grace that is to be 
brought unto them at the revelation of Jesus Christ' (i., 13). 
Their ruling emotion is, therefore, ' the hope that is in them ' 
(Hi., 15) ; so much lying over in reserve for them in the fut- 
ure, their time here is only a 'sojourning ' (i., 17) ; they were 
merely 'strangers and pilgrims' (ii., 17); nay, 'the end of 
all things is at hand ' (iv., 7). Suffering was now, but joy 
was to come when 'his glory shall be revealed ' (v., i)." # 

From these two characteristics, which are so strikingly ap- 
parent in it, this epistle is, perhaps, the richest treasure of ^ 
consolation to those who are in trouble which the sacred can- 
on contains. It comes, warm and living, from the apostle's 
heart, and bears on its style the marks of that disposition 
which was so prominent in himself. It is vivid, clear, ear- 
nest, having occasionally transitions so striking and rapid 
as to remind us of the impulsiveness of him who passed off 
so frequently at some tangent of association, and surprised 
us so often with the singularity of his sayings. We feel 
throughout that we are dealing with one whose theme is not 
a thing out of and apart from himself, but who is reading 



* Alexander's " Kitto," article Peter, First Epistle of. 
15 



338 Peter, the Apostle. 

to us a chapter of his own experience, and telling us how, 
amidst manifold trials, he was sustained by turning in faith 

'■ to the cross, and in hope to the crown. 

There are some books of the Bible, like the sweet pastoral 
of Ruth, and the cheerful letter of Paul to the Philippians, 

I which should be read in the bright sunshine of a cloudless 
day ; there are others that are meant for the darkness, and 
of these, to use one of its own terms, this letter of Peter is 

- one of the most "precious." One sees not the phosphores- 
cence of the wave save in the night ; and the true glory of 
this noble letter comes out most brightly in the suffering of 
the sick-chamber or the experience of the troubled. It is a 
light in the carriage-roof, whereby the Christian pilgrim may 
be cheered as he passes through the tunnels of his life-jour- 
ney. In the open daylight, he may be unconscious of its 
value ] but in the darkness it reveals itself by its welcome 
lustre, and is prized accordingly. 

Concerning the genuineness and canonical authority of 
the second epistle, more serious questions have been raised 
than concerning those of any other book in the New Testa- 
ment. It would be quite out of place for me to enter upon 
the full consideration of these here, involving as they do the 
testimony of the early fathers ; the absence of this letter 
from some of the ancient versions of the New Testament ; 
the difference in style between it and the first epistle ; and 
the singular resemblance which a portion of one of its chap- 
ters bears to the Epistle of Jude. We have to admit that 
doubts were entertained regarding it even in primitive times, 
and that it was not formally admitted into the canon until 
the close of the fourth century ; and it has to be confessed, 
also, that in modern days many of the most renowned critics 
have decided against it. 

Yet, after having read all that I could lay my hands on 
regarding it, I am disposed to agree with those who believe 



Letters and Last Days. 339 

that it belongs of right to the canon of Scripture. For this 
is not a case like that of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which 
is simply anonymous. Its author claims to be Simon Peter, 
and we must therefore either regard the epistle as a delib- 
erate forgery, or accept it as the work of the great apostle. 
Moreover, even if we give full weight to all the objections 
which have been advanced against it, there are sundry per- 
sonal allusions which tell largely in its favor ; for the writer 
refers to the scene on the Mount of Transfiguration, and in 
doing so employs language which, to one acquainted with 
the original, has some subtle links of association with the 
conversation of the three glorified ones on that occasion that 
could hardly have been fabricated. Besides, we have the 
immense improbability that one who had the spiritual in- 
sight that could perceive the truths expressed in that letter, 
and the courage to enforce the exhortations to truth and 
righteousness which it contains, should be himself a lying 
impostor seeking to palm himself off for that which he was 
not. 

The truth is, that there are but two alternatives here. 
Either the author of this treatise has perpetrated a fraud, 
and is guilty of forgery, in using the name of Peter ; or he 
was the apostle himself, and we have in it the latest produc- 
tion that came from his pen. And the whole question may 
be dismissed in the following calm and unbiased sentences 
from the pen of one of the contributors to Smith's " Diction- 
ary of the Bible :" " If it were a question now to be decided 
upon for the first time, upon the external or internal evidences 
still accessible, it may be admitted that it would be far more 
difficult to maintain this than any other document in the New 
Testament; but the judgment of the early Church is not to 
be reversed without far stronger arguments than have been 
adduced, more especially as the epistle is entirely free from 
objections which might be brought, with more show of rea- 



34° Peter, the Apostle. 

son, against others, now all but universally received ; incul- 
cating no new doctrine, bearing on no controversies of post- 
apostolic origin, supporting no hierarchical innovations, but 
simple, earnest, devout, practical— full of the characteristic 
graces of the apostle, who, as we believe, bequeathed this 
last proof of faith and hope to the Church."* 

We have nothing to guide us in fixing the date at which 
this epistle was written ; but from the reference made in it to 
his former letter, it seems to have been designed for those 
to whom that had been addressed. Its general character is 
admonitory. It was evidently designed to warn its readers 
against falling from their steadfastness, and to exhort them 
to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. i\fter an enumeration of Christian privileges, and 
an injunction to make their calling and election sure by the 
performance of Christian duties, he touchingly alludes to 
his own approaching death, and, making a passing reference 
to the certain evidence which he possessed for the truth of 
the doctrines which he proclaimed, he guards them against 
being led away by false teachers, predicts the overthrow of 
all the opponents of Christian truth, and in connection with 
a prophecy of the second advent of Christ, and the destruc- 
tion of the world by fire, he holds out the promise of new 
heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. 

This gives him an opportunity, which he eagerly embraces, 
of bearing testimony to the harmony existing between him- 
self and Paul, whose epistles are put by him on a level with 
the other Scriptures; and so the continued confidence of 
these two men in each other, which was a matter of infer- 
ence from the former letter, is in this one plainly expressed. 

The later events of Peter's life are involved in obscurity. 
Some would have us to believe that he lived at Rome for 

* Smith's " Dictionary," vol. ii., p. 810 : a. 



Letters and Last Days. 341 

twenty years, and that he was the first bishop of the Church 
in that city. But there is not a word of that in the New 
Testament. That he was not there before the year 58, when 
Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans, is, as nearly as pos- 
sible, absolutely certain ; and we may conclude with equal 
assurance that he was not there during Paul's first impris- 
onment. It is clear, moreover, that he did not found the 
Church of Rome ; and that he never was, in any sense of 
the word, a bishop of that Church. 

But whether he ever visited the city, and whether he suf- 
fered martyrdom in it, are questions which are not so easily 
solved. The evidence of his martyrdom is complete, though 
the story of his requesting to be crucified with his head 
downward, because it would be too much honor to be put to 
death precisely as his Lord was, seems to me to be apocry- 
phal. Equally so is the legend found in Ambrose to this 
effect : When the Christians at Rome were assailed by per- 
secution, anxious to preserve their teacher, they persuaded 
him to flee, a course which they had Scriptural warrant to 
recommend, and he to follow ; but at the gate he met the 
Lord. " Lord, whither goest thou ?" said Peter. " I go to 
Rome," was the answer, " there once more to be crucified." 
Peter well understood the meaning of the words, returned at 
once, and was crucified. The probability, in my mind, is, 
that some one had introduced into a discourse, for the pur- 
pose of illustration, and as a purely imaginary thing, such an 
interview between the Master and his apostle, and that, by- 
and-by, it was accepted as a fact. 

The only reliable witness whom we can cite regarding Pe- 
ter's last days is Clement of Rome, who was almost a con- 
temporary, for he wrote about the year 96 or 97, not more 
than thirty years after Peter's death. The passage in which 
he refers to him and Paul is as follows : " But not to dwell 
upon ancient examples, let us come to the most recent spir- 



34 2 Peter, the Apostle. 

itual heroes. Let us take the noble examples furnished in 
our own generation. Through envy and jealousy, the great- 
est and most righteous pillars have been persecuted and put 
to death. Let us set before our eyes the illustrious apostles. 
Peter, through unrighteous envy, endured not one or two, 
but numerous labors ; and, when he had at length suffered 
martyrdom, departed to the place of glory due him. Owing 
to envy, Paul also obtained the crown of patient endurance, 
after being seven times thrown into captivity, compelled to 
flee, and stoned. After preaching both in the East and 
West, he gained the illustrious reputation due to his faith, 
having taught righteousness to the whole world, and come to 
the extreme limits of the West, and suffered martyrdom un- 
der the prefects. Thus was he removed from the world, and 
went into the holy place, having proved himself a striking ex- 
ample of patience. " # 

Within the last few weeks the announcement has been 
made that an almost complete manuscript of the Epistles of 
Clement has been discovered in the library of the Patriarch- 
ate of Jerusalem, and published at Constantinople by Bryen- 
nios, the Bishop of Serrae, in Macedonia. It promises to 
fill up many of the gaps in the former manuscripts, and may 
cast new light upon the passage which I have now read. 
But taking it as we now have it, the following things are cer- 
tain : (i) that both the apostles Peter and Paul suffered mar- 
tyrdom ; (2) that Paul was put to death at Rome ; for, as 
Lipsius affirms, that is the sense now universally given to 
the words "the extreme limits of the West;" (3) that the 
place of Peter's martyrdom is not mentioned by Clement. 
The words referring to him are less definite than those em- 
ployed concerning Paul. This seems evidence that Clement 
did not know so much concerning Peter's death as he did 

* Presbyterian Quarterly and Princeton Review for April, 1876, p. 270. 



Letters and Last Days. 343 

concerning Paul's. But if that were so, then it is almost 
conclusive proof that he was not put to death at Rome. 

An article in the April number of the Princeton Review 
seeks, very opportunely for me, to give Dr. Lipsius's view on 
this controverted question, as that is elaborately stated and 
defended in a forthcoming book, and puts the result in these 
words : "At the close of the first and up to the beginning of 
the second century there was in Pauline circles, inside and 
outside of Rome, no knowledge of Peter's labors in that 
city ; no knowledge of his martyrdom there under Nero."* 

Now, I am aware that over against all this we have to put 
a well-nigh unbroken tradition to the effect that Peter did 
labor in his latest days at Rome, and was there sacrificed as 
a victim to Nero's cruelty. This is attested by Eusebius, 
Origen, and others ; but it has to be remembered, on the 
other side, that such a tradition as that would be likely to 
be formed around the growing claims to supremacy put forth 
by the Church of Rome, and would be fostered by all who 
were in favor of supporting these. 

Of course, we can see that the questions of Peter's resi- 
dence at Rome and the primacy of the pope are two separate 
and entirely unconnected things ; for though we should admit 
that Peter had been Bishop of Rome all his Christian life, 
that does not by any means cover the assumption that the 
pope is his successor in the sense of possessing all that Pe- 
ter as an apostle ever possessed, and of claiming more than 
Peter would have had the presumption to think of. But still, 
it is not by any means certain that he ever was at Rome, and 
facts may yet be brought to light to make it certain that he 
never was. 

As the case stands it may be cautiously stated thus : it is 
certain that Peter suffered martyrdom ; it is probable that 

* Presbyterian Quarterly and Princeton Review for April, 1876, p. 272. 



344 Peter, the Apostle. 

his martyrdom was by crucifixion ; it is probable that his 
martyrdom took place at Rome ; but it is clear that he never 
was for any length of time resident in that city, and morally 
certain that he never was bishop of the Church there. 

We can not now attempt any analysis of the great apos- 
tle's character, but, reserving that for a concluding lecture, 
we shall content ourselves for the present with one or two' 
practical inferences suggested by the ground over which we 
have come. 

In the first place, we may learn that the great concern of 
the ministers of Christ ought to be to preserve and perpetu- 
ate the truth. Peter, in his first epistle, draws a striking con- 
trast between the frailty of men and the permanence of the 
Word, saying, "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man 
as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower 
thereof falleth away : but the Word of the Lord endureth for- 
ever." Yet he did not forbear to use means for its conserva- 
tion; for in his second letter he says, "I will endeavor that 
ye may be able after my decease to have these things always 
in remembrance ;" and he proceeds to expose the deceitful- 
ness of those false teachers who sought to lead them astray. 

Now, we may learn a lesson for our times from this. God 
has given us in the truth a banner, not to be folded up and 
laid past, but to be displayed ; and it is our duty to hold 
forth, and to hold fast, the Word of life. But we falter in 
discharging that duty. Instead of boldly asserting the truth, 
we go about almost as if we felt that we should apologize 
for being Christians. Under the guise of charity, we are be- 
coming latitudinarian ; and, lest we should provoke contro- 
versy, we are tempted timidly to hold our peace. But there 
are some things concerning which it is a sin to be silent ; 
and among these I place all opinions that degrade either the 
person or the work of Christ. 

Who so loving as the Apostle John, especially in his clos- 



Letters and Last Days. 345 

ing days ? Yet it is he who has written these words : " If 
there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive 
him not into your house, neither bid him godspeed." Who 
so forbearing as Paul, who became all things to all men, that 
he might by all means save some ? Yet when ritual observ- 
ances were alleged by some to be indispensable to salvation, 
he gave place by subjection — no, not for an hour, but said, 
" If any man preach any other Gospel to you than that ye 
have received, let him be accursed." Who so liable to be 
influenced by others as Peter ? And yet it is thus he char- 
acterizes those who would seduce professing Christians from 
the right way: "These are wells without water, clouds that 
are carried with a tempest ; to whom the mist of darkness is 
reserved forever." 

Let us imitate the holy boldness of these servants of God, 
and give prominence to the truth as it is in Jesus. Let us 
enthrone Christ in our hearts, that his truth may be contin- 
ually on our lips. Let us give distinct and decided pre-emi- 
nence to Christ alike in our religious opinions and our relig- 
ious teachings ; and as the preaching which every age needs 
is the preaching of the Gospel, we shall see again the fact 
revealed that it is " the power of God unto salvation to ev- 
ery one that believeth." 

We may learn, secondly, that the great secret of Christian 
peace and usefulness is the cultivation of holiness. In his 
first letter, Peter, quoting from one of the Psalms, says, " He 
that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his 
tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile : let 
him eschew evil, and do good ; let him seek peace, and en- 
sue it m " and in his second, after exhorting to the cultivation 
of the Christian graces, he adds, " If these things be in you, 
and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren 
nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
Christianity is not a creed merely, though it is of immense 

15* 



346 Peter, the Apostle. 

importance that the creed be sound ; neither is it an emo- 
tion merely, though wherever it is genuine there is sure to 
be emotion ; but it is pre-eminently a character built upon 
the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and after the pat- 
tern of his spotless life. 

No one can read these letters of Peter without having that 
thought deeply imprinted upon his heart. To be happy, we 
must be holy. True Christian experience is not a mere ef- 
fervescence of feeling, or a simple intellectual assent to a 
system of doctrine. It is character-building; and only in 
the proportion in which we attain to the likeness of Christ 
can we be either happy or useful in the world. Let us leave 
off, then, all other considerations if we want to have joy ; let 
us lay our faith on Christ, and then add to our faith courage, 
and knowledge, and temperance, and patience, and brother- 
ly kindness, and love; for thereby alone can we make our 
"calling and election sure." And while thus we labor for 
our own comfort, we shall be at the same time working for 
the benefit of others, for the influence — call it rather the ef- 
fluence — of character can not be overestimated. We are 
molding others wherever we are, and then most of all when 
we are least conscious that we are doing so. And if we were 
in every respect to live according to the Gospel, we should 
be the noblest missionaries of the cross whom the world has 
ever seen. 

Let us therefore resolve that, by the grace of God, we shall 
regulate ourselves by those principles which Christ enforced 
by his teaching and glorified by his example. In the fami- 
ly, let us cultivate the graces of patience, forbearance, love, 
and self-sacrifice ; in the social circle, let us manifest meek- 
ness and purity ; in business pursuits, let us show that we 
are actuated by justice and integrity ; yea, wherever we are, 
let us endeavor to have our conversation so worthy of the 
Gospel that men shall " take knowledge of us that we have 



Letters and Last Days. 347 

been with Jesus." In vain are all other efforts for the evan- 
gelization of the people, if they be not accompanied by this 
godly living. To no purpose is our profession of attachment 
to Jesus, if it be not confirmed by this holy character. We 
may not be able to speak or write for Jesus, and for the 
moment other walks of usefulness may seem closed against 
us ; but we can all live for him ; and the purer our charac- 
ters, the happier will be our hearts, and the more useful our 
lives. 

Finally, in contending for the truth and striving after ho- 
liness, we are to expect affliction. As long as we are on the 
earth, we shall have trials. These may come either in the 
providence of God, or as the result of the wickedness of our 
fellow-men ; but, rightly borne, they will only purge our char- 
acters and enlarge our usefulness. What a rich catena of 
consolation may be formed out of these letters ! And how 
can I better conclude than with a specimen, which may send 
you to the letters themselves for the rest : " Though now for 
a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold 
temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more 
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with 
fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the 
appearing of Jesus Christ ;" "Wherefore gird up the loins of 
your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that 
is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;" 
" Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial 
which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened 
unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of 
Christ's sufferings ; that, when his glory shall be revealed, 
ye may be glad also with exceeding joy ;" " Wherefore, let 
them that suffer according to the will of God commit the 
keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful 
Creator;" "An entrance shall be ministered unto you abun- 
dantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour 



348 Peter, the Apostle. 

Jesus Christ;" "Account that the long suffering of our Lord 
is salvation ;" " Be diligent that ye may be found of him in 
peace, without spot and blameless ;" God " hath begotten us 
again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, 
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who 
are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation 
ready to be revealed in the last time." 



XXIII. 

SIMON PETER A SERVANT AND AN APOSTLE 
OE CHRIST. 

2 Peter i., i. 

THE study of a single biography, especially if it be that 
of a distinguished and earnest man, is apt to beget in 
us the disposition to imitate it. We are prone to make it 
the mold into which we determine to run ourselves; and 
character in us, instead of being developed from within, is 
repressed and regulated from without. We cut and shape 
it after the style of our model, as the old-fashioned gardener 
used to do with his trees and shrubs, instead of allowing it 
to spread out into its own individuality and pruning off mere 
excrescences, as the skilled botanist does with each plant 
under his care. That which ought to be natural is made 
artificial ; the spontaneousness goes out of it, and character 
degenerates into caricature. Thus hero-worship becomes 
positively injurious ; and, strange as it may seem, it tends, 
by the exclusiveness of its homage, to overlay and destroy 
the very things by which it was first evoked. 

The echo is always more indistinct and shadowy than the 
voice ; and he who tries to make himself into another man 
only mars himself, while he falls very far short of reach- 
ing the other's excellence. The highest merit of character, 
next after its moral and spiritual excellence, is individuality. 
This is true in all departments ; but it is too often forgotten 
in the religious life. The poet, or painter, or philosopher 



350 Peter, the Apostle. 

who is simply and only an imitator has not risen to the 
highest greatness. 

We crave in literature and art for originality. But in re- 
ligious things men are apt to imagine that they must keep 
down their individuality, and squeeze themselves into the 
shape and pattern of certain excellent ones with whose his- 
tories they have become enamored. It is not enough that 
they come to Christ, but they must get up the same pre- 
cise experiences in coming to him that their model passed 
through. It is not sufficient that they should serve Christ ; 
but their service, no matter what the times require of them, 
must take the same form as that of their models. What was 
proper and noble in the one becomes thus forced and exotic 
in the other; and so too frequently the happiness of the 
heart and the usefulness of the life are impaired. 

Now, it seems to me that there is no better corrective to 
this evil than the analysis of the characters of the good men 
whose lives are given in the Word of God. In the great 
inner principles of faith in God and loyalty to him they 
were all alike ; but in their individual features there is as 
much diversity among them as there is in the countenances 
of this audience. The heart-beat in man is the same in all 
races ; but there is still a marked difference between the Eu- 
ropean and the red man ; and so, though they are all alike in 
the great heart-throb of faith, there are yet clear distinctions 
between those whose histories are recorded here. Isaac, 
with his meditative and pensive spirit, is in many respects a 
contrast to the active and energetic Abraham. Moses, the 
man of God, is easily distinguishable even from one so near- 
ly related to him as Aaron ; and though, in many respects, 
they remind us of each other, Nehemiah had not the mys- 
tic fervor and keen-eyed insight of Daniel. So among the 
apostles ; there were no two alike. John was the man of in- 
tuition, who took in things more by absorption than by rea- 



A Servant and an Apostle of Christ. 351 

soning. Thomas was the representative of independence, 
who would be satisfied on all subjects for himself. Philip 
was the plain matter-of-fact one, who never thought of a 
figurative sense in which words were to be understood, so 
long as he could cling to a literal one. Andrew was the 
usher among the twelve, finding his delight in leading friends 
and strangers alike to Jesus. And Peter was the outspoken, 
impulsive, irrepressible, who was first and fieriest in every 
thing. They were all different • and yet the Holy Ghost, 
working in them all, turned their idiosyncrasies to good ac- 
count in the service of their Master. He did not make 
each the fac-simile of the other, but he developed each into 
himself, only that self purified, sublimated, and ennobled. 

Now, the lesson of all this for us is, that we should not 
seek to repeat another in ourselves, but rather should en- 
deavor, like all the twelve, to reduce the principles on which 
they acted to such practice as is demanded by our circum- 
stances and our age. There is only one whom it is safe for 
us exclusively to imitate, and he was more than man. Yet, 
even in regard to him, we shall make egregious mistakes 
if we attempt to repeat his actions from without, instead of 
imbibing his spirit, and leaving that to manifest itself through 
us as occasion requires. Naturalness is indispensable to 
sincerity; and the development of principle from within is 
indispensable to naturalness. There ought to be no fashion 
in piety. In the matter of character as well as of party, no 
one should say, " I am of Paul," or " I am of Cephas ;" but 
each should say, " I am of Christ :" meaning by that that 
he has adopted the principles of Christ, and is seeking to 
apply them every day to his circumstances and responsibili- 
ties. 

When, therefore, we proceed, in this concluding discourse, 
to point out the distinctive features of Peter's disposition, 
you will understand that we are using him only as an aid in 



352 Peter, the Apostle. 

self-formation, and that we do not seek to induce you to 
merge your individuality in his. He was himself only saved 
and sanctified by Christ ; and the great lesson of his career 
is that we should be ourselves only saved, and, if possible, 
still more highly sanctified than he was. 

In analyzing the character of Peter, I place first his trans- 
parent sincerity. You could read him at a glance. His 
heart was always in his countenance and on his lips. He 
could not be a hypocrite ; and the only time he attempted 
to deceive, he made such bungling work of it that no one 
would believe his lie. What was in him was sure, in some 
way or other, to come out. He had no diplomacy about 
him, and was as far as possible from believing that language 
was designed to conceal thought. Nay, rather, he thought 
aloud : and the result was, that while men sometimes ad- 
mired him, and sometimes laughed at him, and sometimes 
blamed him, they always loved him. He always believed 
in taking the straight line. There was no cunning or du- 
plicity about him. He could not have gone about like Ju- 
das, nourishing secret enmity in his heart, and seeking a 
favorable opportunity for its gratification. Neither did he 
seek honor by roundabout ways. In this respect he was 
superior even to James and John, who schemed, through 
their mother, for the highest places in the kingdom. He 
did nothing underhand. All about him was open and above 
board ; and when he had heard about himself, he was eager 
also to know what should come to his friend. 

Now, in all this there was much to admire, and not a little 
to desire j for, sooth to say, this simplicity of sincerity has 
gone largely out of fashion among us.. Men isolate them- 
selves by their reticence, and repel all advances by their re- 
serve ; they count it a merit to be inscrutable, and a silli- 
ness to be open and ingenuous. Scheming is the order of 
the day, and life is regarded as a game of whist, in which 



A Servant and an Apostle of Christ. 353 

each one keeps his hand hidden from his neighbor. Frank- 
ness is the mark of inexperience, and the wearing of a mask 
is not by any means confined to the ball-room, but may be 
seen, perhaps more frequently, in the exchanges, and even 
in the Church. 

Now, I am aware that frankness may be carried, as it was 
occasionally in Peter, too far. We can not but blame him 
for his words to the Lord regarding his death, or his answer 
to Jesus about the washing of his feet ; while his language 
on the Mount of Transfiguration was strangely out of place. 
But still he was genuine ; and I have no hesitation in saying 
that the mistake of an honest man is better than the hypoc- 
risy of a dishonest one. The openness of Peter, though it 
was now and then foolish, and even sinful, was a far higher 
thing than the cautious and apparently blameless demeanor 
of Judas ; though, of course, better than either is the well- 
balanced self-control of him who has learned that there is a 
time to speak and a time to be silent. 

We need not, perhaps, like Peter, utter all we think or 
feel on every occasion ; for not to say that we may often be 
wrong, there are many seasons and many subjects on which 
we are not called to speak at all. But it ought to be an 
invariable rule with us not to say any thing which we do 
not think or feel. No matter what it may cost us ; though 
we may lose profits by it ; though for the moment we may 
lose friends, and forfeit the good opinion of those we love ; 
though it may threaten to bring ruin upon us, yet it is above 
and beyond all things needful that we be sincere. The only 
disgraces that came on Peter were the results of his attempt- 
ing a dishonest course ; and we may be sure that how great 
soever the calamity may be with which our honesty threatens 
us, the degradation of insincerity will be lower and more de- 
basing than any suffering. There is no ruin possible to a 
man save that of character, and insincerity always scuttles 



354 Peter, the Apostle. 

that. All may seem prosperous around ; the sky above 
may be bright, the sea may be calm, the vessel may be well 
provisioned ; but away down in the secret hold it is pierced 
through, and the water is rushing in which by-and-by will 
make the ship sink, all unrecorded, beneath the waves. I 
tell you, friends, I had rather have the outburst of an occa- 
sional storm the result of impetuous rashness, than a slow, 
remediless, and unwept foundering like that ! 

A second feature in the character of Peter was prompti- 
tude. He did at once what his hand found to do. He lost 
no time over deliberation, and never hesitated to say what 
he felt to be true, or to do what seemed to him to be right. 
When the Lord revealed himself to him in the miracle of 
the first draught of fishes, he cried out in a moment, " De- 
part from me ; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." And though, 
on that occasion, his perception of a clear truth took rather 
an unfortunate way of expressing itself, yet it was the very 
same readiness that prompted him in other circumstances to 
say, " To whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal 
life ; and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the 
son of the living God." 

So, again, when John hesitated to enter the sepulchre, Pe- 
ter went in at once ; and when he was sent for to come to 
Joppa without delay, in consequence of the death of Dorcas, 
he arose and returned with the messengers. In like man- 
ner, when the servants of Cornelius came for him, he re- 
sponded to their invitation without gainsaying as soon as 
he was sent for. His habit thus was to act on the moment. 
It would have been better, indeed, if he had been occasion- 
ally more deliberate. He was apt to be zealous at the ex- 
pense of prudence, and was guilty of speaking and acting, 
even in circumstances of importance, without due reflection. 
What he was going to see at all, he commonly saw at a 
glance ; and he did not take time in all cases to look round 



A Servant and an Apostle of Christ. 355 

a subject before he committed himself regarding it. This 
frequently brought him into inconsistencies and absurdi- 
ties from which a little forethought would have saved him. 
Thus, if he had reflected for a little, he never would have 
presumed to rebuke his Master for his reference to his 
death, or to resist the washing of his feet, or to take out his 
sword and cut off the ear of Malchus. In fairness, how^ 
ever, it must be added that, if this feature of his character 
sometimes led him into errors, it prompted also to his speedy 
relinquishment of them when their nature was pointed out 
to him. If he did say, " Thou shalt never wash my feet," he 
was as ready to exclaim, when the significance of the act 
was explained to him, " Not my feet only, but my hands and 
my head ;" the very extravagance of the recoil indicating 
how r sincerely it was made. He did not anchor himself 
over his sayings, and stick to them, just to be consistent. 
But if he hastily uttered that which was wrong, he was as 
much in haste to retract it when he discovered what it 
really was. In this respect he was largely a contrast to 
his fellow-apostle Paul. The man of Tarsus was consistent 
throughout. He carefully examined his ground before he 
took it, but when he had taken it he was immovable. Pe- 
ter, again, was quick in all his movements ; and if he did 
sometimes step rashly into a marshy place, he sprung just 
as speedily out of it again. 

But while all this must be frankly conceded, we must 
never lose sight of the fact that it was through this very 
promptitude to say out, and act upon, that which he saw at 
the moment, that he owed his position as the leader of the 
apostolic band on the day of Pentecost. For it was this 
that led him to utter his memorable confession at Cesarea 
Philippi, "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." 
Flesh and blood did not reveal that truth to him. It had 
been unveiled before him by his Father in heaven ; but so 



356 Peter, the Apostle. 

soon as he saw it he said it, and the public utterance was a 
source of delight to the Lord. 

We may moralize, if we choose, over Peter's impulsive- 
ness, and bewail the absence of caution by which, on many 
occasions, he was characterized ; but the fact remains, that 
the world has never owed very much to your prudent peo- 
ple, who are always afraid to do any thing until they know 
assuredly that they are doing the right thing. If Luther 
had been a man of that temperament, there would have 
been no Reformation ; and, for my part, I am almost ready 
to forgive Peter's blunders, for the great blessings which his 
promptitude has secured for us. I would be far indeed from 
urging to precipitate action in any matter ; and yet, if we 
could combine it with the wisdom of such a one as John, it 
would be well for most of us that we had Peter's prompti- 
tude. 

The evil with many now is, not that they are in any doubt 
as to what they should do, but that they will not do it at 
once. Thus, in the matter of confessing Christ, there are 
probably very few among us who do not believe that he is 
the Saviour of the world, and are not trusting in him for our 
own deliverance ; nay, there are, perhaps, not many among 
us who are not cherishing the purpose that, at some time, 
they will take a public stand under the leadership of Jesus ; 
but they hesitate, deliberate, delay until at length the habit 
of procrastination is formed, and it is never done at all. I 
grant that such a step should always be taken carefully, de- 
liberately, and prayerfully ; but we should not be always de- 
liberating ; and the example of Peter, with the honor that 
came upon him in consequence, is full of significance to 
those who are halting and irresolute. How much, also, is 
there in his readiness to go to the household of Dorcas or 
the abode of Cornelius, to instruct, if not, indeed, to rebuke, 
the ministers of the Gospel ! We postpone such calls too 



A Servant and an Apostle of Christ. 357 

frequently to other and less important interests, and indus- 
triously fish in other less productive waters, when, if we were 
to repair to the chambers of the sick and the homes of 
the inquiring, we might be blessed in leading many to the 
Lord. 

Peter's rule was evidently the same as that which the 
much-loved Payson had so frequently on his lips: "The 
man who wants me is the man I want •" and he sought to 
be a blessing to all who in any way needed or invoked his 
aid. Thus, without at all ignoring the evils that must re- 
sult when promptitude degenerates into rashness, there are 
lessons from this aspect of Peter's character which are ap- 
propriate both to the occupant of the pulpit and the hearers 
in the pews. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it 
with thy might ; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowl- 
edge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest." 

Another element in Peter's character was his courage. 
We too frequently associate him with the denial of his Lord, 
and his vacillating conduct at Antioch, as if these were typ- 
ical instances in his life. But, though it is undeniable that 
on both of these occasions he was seized with panic, we 
should do him great injustice if we were to suppose that 
they were normal or habitual with him. Now and then, aft- 
er a day's terrific rain, there is a freshet in the river, which 
does a little damage, and spreads a little alarm ; but that is 
not its usual condition. So these were freshets in Peter's 
history ; and before cue of them, at least, there was a night 
of such experiences as, on a nature like his, impulsive and 
sensitive and intense, might well produce a tendency to pan- 
ic. Perhaps, also, if we fully knew the details concerning the 
other, we might see something in them which helped to ex- 
plain the inconsistency which was so grieving to Paul. But, 
however that may have been, Peter was in the main a cour- 
ageous man. If he did deny the Lord, do not let us forget 



358 Peter, the Apostle. 

that he was the only one of the twelve save John who had 
the courage to follow the Lord, after his apprehension, into 
the palace of the high-priest. Behold him, too, before the 
Council ! There is no faltering in his speech, there is no 
quivering in his heart there. On the contrary, it was his 
boldness which, most of all, attracted the attention of his 
judges, and made them take knowledge of him that he had 
been with Jesus. And no one can accuse him of cowardice 
who was ready to die at the hands of Herod, and who actu- 
ally gave up his life at last as a martyr for the truth as it is 
in Jesus. 

Sometimes, indeed, his courage degenerated into rashness, 
as when, before fearful military odds, he drew the sword in 
defense of his Lord. But in general he was resolute and 
unbending. When he failed, it was because he trusted in 
himself; when he stood, it was because "he endured as see- 
ing him who is invisible." So long as he thought of doing 
that which was right in the sight of God, he was inflexible 
and invincible; but when he counseled with flesh and blood, 
or had regard to the opinions or prejudices of men, he fal- 
tered, and fell back. 

Now, we have here at once an example for imitation, and 
a beacon for warning. Our bearing before temptation will 
be like that of Peter before the Council, or like that of the 
same apostle before the damsel in the high-priest's hall, ac- 
cording as we are determined to do that which is right in 
the sight of God, or are trusting in our own strength, and 
glorying in our own steadfastness. There is never any dif- 
ficulty about determining what our duty is when we look at 
the matter as one between ourselves and God ; and we shall 
always be enabled to perform that duty when we think of it 
as something laid upon us by Him who gave his life in our 
behalf. But when we hold parley with fashion, or interest, 
or earthly prudence, and allow the consideration of men's 



A Servant and an Apostle of Christ. 359 

favor or antagonism to come into operation, immediately 
complication begins ; and when we are in such a hesitating 
mood, even such a little thing as the banter of a silly girl, or 
the vague foreboding of some blind partisan, will be all that is 
needed to send us off in the wrong direction. When the bal- 
ance is in equipoise, the slightest touch of an infant's hand 
upon the beam will send it down to its farthest limit. But 
when you put a weight into the scale, it is a harder thing to 
move it. So, if we would make ourselves immovably stead- 
fast in the face of all temptation or threatening, we must 
weight ourselves down by confidence in God, and put him 
between us and the efforts of our assailants. When we do 
that, they will not stir us until they can cope with him. 

I name only one other characteristic of Peter, namely, his 
intensity. There are some men so lymphatic in their temper- 
ament that they are moved by nothing. They hate enthu- 
siasm, and can not be made to alter their pace by any influ- 
ence whatever. They must do every thing with precision — 
slowly, orderly, without any emotion, or any manifestation 
of interest. And, not content with being such men them- 
selves, each seems to carry about with him a portable fire- 
engine, with which he is prepared at once to extinguish 
every spark of enthusiasm that begins to glow in others. 
Peter was very far from being one of these. There was an 
ardor about him that radiated through every thing which he 
said or did. His nature was pre-eminently incandescent. 
He was whole-hearted in all he undertook. His opinions 
and actions were not separable from himself, but he sent 
himself after every thing he said, and he "moved alto- 
gether when he moved at all." He seemed to be always at 
a white heat ; and so when he was right, he was enthu- 
siastically right ; and when he was wrong, he was energetic- 
ally wrong. 

The hot-house brings forth weeds as luxuriantly as it de- 



360 Peter, the Apostle. 

velops flowers ; and so a nature like Peter's leads to promi- 
nence in evil as well as pre-eminence in good. You see the 
same intensity in his denial as you do in his confession ; but 
because the bent of his character was mainly toward Christ 
and holiness, his enthusiam was most frequently manifested 
in his Master's service. What could be more touching than 
his expression of attachment to the Lord at the supper-table, 
or his thrice -repeated answer to the Saviour's question on 
the shore of Gennesaret ? And in the work of preaching the 
Gospel, there are no finer specimens of burning eloquence 
than his sermon on the day of Pentecost and his address be- 
fore the Council. I could not put him higher in this respect 
than Paul, but he was at least on a level with him ; and it is 
only because occasionally his courage gave way to panic, and 
his promptitude degenerated into rashness, that he was in 
any way morally inferior to the Apostle of the Gentiles. In 
one thing they were alike, namely, their ardent attachment 
to the Lord, and their jealousy of any thing that infringed 
on his prerogative. Peter's reproof of Simon Magus stands 
side by side with Paul's trenchant address to Elymas, the 
sorcerer ; and both are pervaded with that burning loyalty 
to the Holy Ghost for which they were remarkable. 

But enthusiasm has its perils as well as its excellence. 
When the pendulum swings with all its weight to one side, 
there is always danger that it will go as heavily to the oth- 
er ; and so those who are gifted with intensity have need to 
be on their guard, lest they are borne by it in a wrong direc- 
tion. " It is good to be zealously affected always in a good 
thing." Earnestness, in and of itself, is little; every thing 
depends on the object in which it is enlisted. It is no miti- 
gation of wrong to say that a man is sincerely wrong. It is 
no extenuation of evil to affirm that a man is earnestly in 
evil. The sincerity will make it all the more dangerous for 
himself, and the earnestness will render it all the more in- 



A Servant and an Apostle of Christ. 361 

jurious to others, One is not the less really opposed to 
God because he is sincerely so, and the earnestness of 
his antagonism will lead him only to more aggravated 
sin. 

Let us see to it, therefore, that we keep our intensity sub- 
ordinate to conscience. It is always dangerous for a vessel 
to strike a rock ; but if she be a steamship, with her engines 
going at full speed, the ruin will be tremendous. An ordi- 
nary carriage can not be overturned without peril to its in- 
mate ; but the wrecking of an express -train is something 
frightful. So, when a man of intensity like David or like 
Peter goes into sin, the evil is terrible ; and it behooves 
those who have such an ardent temperament to be peculiar- 
ly on their guard. 

But I can not conclude without making three inferences 
from our whole subject. The first is that a man's defects 
are frequently in the near neighborhood of his excellences. 
We have seen how Peter's promptitude occasionally leaned 
over into hastiness, and his courage sometimes degenerated 
into rashness ; and if we take a wider range of inquiry, we 
may discover that good men are in most danger where they 
are usually strongest. I grant, indeed, that most of us have 
special weaknesses where we know we are most liable to fail ; 
but, just because we know that, we are most watchful in re- 
gard to these. It is not so often considered, however, that 
we have all particular elements of strength, our knowledge 
of which leads to confidence in them ; and that, again, is the 
precursor of a fall. In this way we account for the fact that 
some of the greatest saints who have ever lived have failed 
in their characteristic graces • and in Peter it was in those 
very elements of genuineness and courage which were his 
most marked excellences that he fell, not once, but twice. 
So it is not safe to relax our watchfulness in any particular. 
" Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall " 

16 



62 Peter, the Apostle. 



and where we are commonly the strongest, let us post the 
wariest sentinel. 

Again, we may learn that a man's usefulness often springs 
out of some recovery from sin. It is the high prerogative 
of God to bring good out of evil, and even the existence of 
sin has been the occasion of manifesting the mercy of Je- 
hovah. So in the case of the individual believer, his very 
falls are turned by the Holy Spirit to good account in 
giving him an experience which enables him to be a ben- 
efit to others. Those who have been the victims of in- 
temperance, and have been restored to themselves and to 
society by the grace of God, are thereby better fitted than 
other men for rescuing the drunkard j and their success in 
such Christ-like work is at least some consolation to them 
when they look back upon the doleful past. In the same 
way, Peter's fall and restoration are the fountain from which 
has flowed the stream of his first epistle. That is, from first 
to last, a letter for the tried and tempted whom he seeks to 
comfort with the comfort wherewith he himself was comfort- 
ed of God. Thus the fall of one Christian, when he is re- 
stored, may become the means of preventing others from 
yielding to temptation, or from sinking into despair ■ for he 
raises a beacon on the rock whereon he struck, and makes 
the navigation just so much the safer for those who shall 
come after him. Strengthen thy brethren, therefore, out of 
thine own experience; and if God have saved thee from 
peril, cry back a word of warning to those who are in dan- 
ger, and send a message of cheer to those who are in de- 
spondency. 

Finally, we get a fresh glimpse into the Saviour's heart 
through his treatment of the son of Jonas. Is it not true, 
brethren, that God's revelations of himself to us come most 
strikingly and suggestively through his dealings with indi- 
vidual men ? When we speak of him as the God of Abra- 



A Servant and an Apostle of Christ. 363 

ham, we think of him especially as strengthening his people 
under severest trial. When we call him the God of Jacob, 
we have before us those two scenes at Bethel and Peniel, 
and we think of him as the God who heareth prayer. When 
we regard him as the Lord God of Elijah, we think of him 
as he who provideth for his own, ay, even when they lie un- 
der the juniper-tree of discouragement and desertion of duty. 
And so the Lord Jesus has revealed himself to us through 
his dealings with his different disciples. As the Saviour of 
Thomas, he is brought before us as one who deals gently 
with the doubter, and leads him up to faith. As the Saviour 
of Paul, he is manifested to us as the sustainer of his serv- 
ants in every form of trial and suffering. But as the Saviour 
of Peter, he is pre-eminently and emphatically the restorer 
of the penitent. What could be more touching in its ten- 
derness than the fact that on the afternoon of the resurrec- 
tion-day the Lord Jesus had a private interview with his 
repentant servant, and kissed the past into forgetfulness ? 
And is there not in this, peculiar encouragement to the 
backslider to return to him ? Is there one here who has 
denied the Lord — one who in business, or in domestic life, 
or in society, has repudiated the Saviour, whom in earlier 
days he sought to honor and promised to serve? Then let 
him learn from the history of that servant of God, whose life 
has been so long our theme, how freely Jesus will forgive 
those who return to their allegiance to him. Come back, 
my friend, come back ' He will not cast you out. He will 
put a new song into your mouth, and teach you to say, " He 
restoreth my soul : he leadeth me in the paths of righteous- 
ness for his name's sake." Take with you words, and say, 

"Jesus, let thy pitying eye 

Call back a wandering sheep; 
False to thee, like Peter, I 
Would fain, like Peter, weep. 



364 Peter, the Apostle. 

Let me be by grace restored ; 

On me be all long-suffering shown : 
Turn and look upon me, Lord, 

And melt my heart of stone ;" 

and soon the answer will come, " I will heal your backslid- 
ing ; I will love you freely : for mine anger is turned away 
from you." 

And so we take our leave of thee, thou generous, impul- 
sive, wayward, impetuous, yet true-hearted man of God ! We 
have come to know ourselves better through our acquaint- 
ance with thee, and even thy backsliding has shown us new 
depths of mercy in the heart of Christ. So, being convert- 
ed, thou hast strengthened thy brethren, and we glorify God 
in thee. Thy very errors have brought thee closer to our- 
selves, and taught us at once our danger and our safety. 
Now hast thou ascended to the true Mount of Transfigu- 
ration, whereon thou dwellest in no frail " tabernacle " such 
as thou didst wish to rear on Hermon's summit, but in "an 
house not made with hands eternal in the heavens ;" and 
when the chief Shepherd shall appear, may there be for us 
as for thee "a crown of glory that fadeth not away." 



INDEX. 



Alexander, W. L., LL.D., edition of "Kitto's Cyclopaedia," by, quoted 
from or referred to, 81, 246, 337. 

Alford's " Commentary on the New Testament," quoted from or referred 
to, in, 161,245,286,289. 

Ananias and Sapphira, sin of, 222-224; aggravations of their guilt, 224; 
punishment of, 226. 

Andrew follows Jesus, 21 ; brings Peter to Jesus, 23, 28, 

Antagonism to be expected by Christ's disciples, 206. 

Antagonists of the apostles described, 201-203. 

Apostasy, root of, 72 ; beginning of, 119. 

Applause, human, fluctuating character of, 69 ; danger of, to the minis- 
ter, 70. 

Atonement, modern objections to, considered, 100-104. 

Attitude of Christ to the inquirer, 24, 65 ; to the penitent, 149. 

Babylon, Peter at, 333. 

Barnabas, liberality of, 222; at the Council of Jerusalem, 319; at Anti- 

och, 320. 
Beautiful Gate, lame man at the, 187. 

Becket, Thomas a, Archbishop of Canterbury, reference to, 131. 
Bethsaida described, 21, 22. 
Biography, cautions in the study of, 349. 
Bringing others to Christ, duty of, 28 ; methods of, 29 ; where to begin 

in, 30.35- 

Brown, John, of Haddington, description of, 50. 
Bryant, W. C, quotation from, 248. 
Bunyan, John, words of, 249 ; anecdote of, 251. 
Burns, Rev. J. D., verses by, 316. 

Carlyle, Thomas, quoted from, 107, 231, 276. 
Cesarea described, 283. 
Cesarea Philippi described, 79. 
Chalmers, Thomas, referred to, 34, 263. 
Character-building the great end of Christianity, 346. 
Christ receives Peter, 23 ; goes to Capernaum, 36 ; preaches from Peter's 
boat, 38; gives miraculous draught of fishes to Peter, 39; heals Peter's 



366 Index. 

mother-in-law, 51 ; ordains the twelve, 51 ; hears of the death of the 
Baptist, 52 ; feeds the multitude, 53 ; sends his disciples across the 
lake, 53 ; walks upon the waters, 55 ; encourages Peter to do the same, 
56 ; refuses to be made a king, 66 ; goes to Cesarea Philippi, 78 ; 
blesses Peter for his confession, 84 ; rebukes Peter for his aversion to 
the doctrine of a suffering Saviour, 97 ; takes Peter, James, and John 
up to the Mount, 109 ; keeps his last passover, 125 ; washes the feet 
of the disciples, 126; is denied by Peter, 138-140; death of, 155 ; res- 
urrection of, 155 ; appears to the disciples, 156 ; and to Peter, 157. 

Christians, remind on-lookers of Christ, 207; walk only after God's word, 
209 ; have chosen fellowship with each other, 212. 

Church, early Christian, relation of, to the Jewish, 185 ; female member- 
ship in, 238 ; early progress of, 271 ; unity of, 311. 

Church in the house, importance of the, 32. 

Clarkson and Wilberforce, anecdote of, 118. 

Clement, testimony of, as to Peter's last days, 341. 

Community of goods in early Church considered, 217-222. 

Confession of Christ, the result of divine operation on the soul, 90; con- 
nected with the permanence of the Church, 92 ; and with its progress, 

93- 
Cornelius, character of, 283 ; vision of, 285 ; sends for Peter, 286 ; meets 

him with deference, 287 ; is received by baptism into the Church, 293. 
Council, Jewish, described, 204; Peter's address before, 204; second 

appearance at, 242. 
Courage, a characteristic of Peter, 357. 
Cross, no kingdom without a, 104. 

Danger sometimes greatest where we are commonly strongest, 150, 

361 ; of one evil habit, 231 ; of one-sided views, 325. 
Devotion needs seclusion, 117; sees new glory in Christ and in his word, 

120; is not the whole of life, 121 ; furnishes support for duty and trial, 

122. 
Dick, Rev. John, D.D., quoted from, 217, 260. 
Difficulties of a speculative sort should not keep us from following 

Christ, 168. 
Discipleship precedes apostleship, 40. 
Distance from the Lord a precursor of denial, 144. 
Dorcas, an illustration of practical beneficence, 275 ; raised to life by 

Peter, 279. 

Elijah, the prototype of John the Baptist, 8 ; on the Mount with Christ, 

114, 
Eneas cured by Peter at Lydda, 274. 
Experience, Christian, importance of, for steadfastness, 76. 

Fairrairn's "Imperial Bible Dictionary" quoted from, 24, 80. 



Index. 367 

Fidelity the truest kindness, 197, 327. 
Finding Christ, meaning of, 26-28. 

First Epistle of Peter, date of, 334 ; contents and characteristics of, 335. 
Fishers of men, meaning of, 48-51. 

Fishes, first miraculous draught of, 39 ; second miraculous draught of, 
158; comparison of the one to the other, 158; meaning of both, 159. 

Gamaliel, character of, 246 ; advice of, 247-249. 

Gennesaret, Lake of, 37, 38 ; storm on, 54. 

Gentiles received into the Church, 293. 

Gift of tongues, 173 ; comparison of, with the phenomena in the Church 

of Corinth, 174, 175. 
God's fullest revelations made through the histories of individual men, 

364. 
Gospel for the people, 240 ; Petrine, 245. 
Guthrie, Rev. Dr. Thomas, contrasted with J. S. Mill, 263. 

Hamilton, Patrick, referred to, 316. 

Hanna, Rev. Dr. W., quoted from, in. 

Havel ock, General, letter by, 210. 

Hearers prepared for the preacher, 297. 

Henry, Matthew, saying of, 119. 

Herod Agrippa I., character of, 301 ; puts James to death, 303 ; impris- 
ons Peter, 304 ; death of, 309. 

High-priest's accusation of Peter, 242. 

Holiness essential to peace, 345. 

Holy Spirit, baptism of the, 10, 15; gift of the, on Pentecost, 173-176; 
second baptism of the, 206 ; conferred on the Gentiles, 292. 

Home the starting-place of Christian work, 31-33. 

House, description of an Oriental, 139. 

Humility the spirit of martyrdom, 161. 

Hypocrisy impossible with God, 233 ; a case of, does not prove a re- 
vival false, 264. 

Imprisonment of apostles, 203, 239 ; of Peter by Herod, 304. 
Inspiration different from sanctification, 321. 
Intensity a characteristic of Peter, 359. 

James, martyrdom of, by Herod, 303. 

Jay, Rev. W., quoted from, 45. 

John the Apostle, introduction of, to Jesus, 21 ; Gospel of, 153 ; runs 

with Peter to the sepulchre, 156; comparison of, with Peter, 186, 187. 
John the Baptist, ministry of, 7-20 ; preaching of, 9 ; baptism of, 10 ; 

points out Jesus to his followers, 11 ; humility of, 12; resemblance of, 

to Elijah, 13 ; a model of self-renunciation, 19. 
Joppa described, 274 ; Peter's vision at, 286. 



368 Index. 

Josephus, Flavius, quoted from, 7, 247, 302, 311. 

Joy the result of receiving the Gospel, 262. 

Judas, beginning of apostasy of, 68 ; why chosen as an apostle, 72 ; ex- 
planation of treachery of, 73 ; remorse of, distinguished from repent- 
ance, 149. 

Judea, condition of, when John the Baptist appeared, 7. 

Keble, John, quoted from, 20, 282. 

Keys, gift of, to Peter, 83-87. 

Kingdom of heaven, meaning of, 86 j law of the, 104. 

Lame man, the, at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, 187, 188. 

Law of the kingdom, 104. 

Laws of nature, in relation to miracles, 189 ; and to prayer, 314, 

Leighton, Archbishop, saying of, 49. 

Leighton, William, lines by, 64. 

Liberty, relation of Peter's words to, 244. 

Light increased to us when we use what we have, 293. 

Lightfoot, Rev. J. R., D.D., quoted from, 322. 

Lipsius, view of, on the question of Peter's visit to Rome, 343, 

Liverpool, fire in, illustration from, 168. 

Longfellow, H. W., quoted from, 299. 

Luther, Martin, referred to, 263. 

Lydda described, 272. 

Mammon and God can not be served at once, 230. 

Matheson Duncan, anecdote of, 264. 

Mill, J. S., contrasted with Guthrie, 263. 

Minister, the, must be absorbed in his work, 46 ; a fisher of men, 4S-50 ; 
must be indifferent to applause for its own sake, 70. 

Ministry, faithful, effect of a, twofold, 228. 

Miracle, definition of a, 189 ; possibility of a, 190 ; relation of to the Gos- 
pel, 190 ; evidential value of a, 191. 

Moffat, Robert, D.D., lines of, written in an album, 46. 

Money not the most valuable thing, 196. 

Moody, D. L, work of, referred to, 18, 265. 

Moses on the Mount, 114. 

Motive, true, to Christian work, 166. 

Myers, F. W. H., quoted from, 14. 

Neander, Augustus, quoted from, 15, 16, 220, 257, 285. 
Newton, John, anecdotes of, 44 ; saying of, 106. 

Objections to the doctrine of atonement considered, 100-104. 

Palazzo, Rospigliosi, illustration from, 193. 



Index. 369 

Pastoral office, wide range of, 164. 

Paul, first meeting of, with Peter, 268 ; at Antioch, 320 ; expostulation 
of with Peter, 322 ; lessons from his conduct on that occasion, 328- 

331. 

Payson, Rev. Dr. Edward, rule of, 359. 

Pentecost, meaning of, 172; reasons for selecting day of, for the gift of 
the Holy Ghost, 171 ; meeting of the disciples on day of, 172 ; gift of 
tongues on, 1 73 ; Peter's sermon on day of, 1 78 ; connection of prayer 
with, blessings on, 180. 

Perpetuity of the Word of God, 315. 

Persecution, root of, 203 ; overruled for good of the Church, 260-262 ; a 
blunder, 315. 

Peter introduced to Christ by Andrew, 23, 28 ; lends his boat for a pul- 
pit to Christ, 38 ; miraculous draught of fishes by, 39 ; effect of that 
miracle on, 39 ; called to apostleship, 40 ; first in all the lists of the 
Twelve, 52 ; walks on the water and begins to sink, 55 ; characteris- 
tics of, 56, 127, 128, 157, 163, 351-361 ; first confession of, 65-68 ; sec- 
ond confession of, 78-82 ; meaning of Christ's promises to, 84-90; re- 
buked by the Lord, 97 ; taken up to the holy mount, 1 1 1 ; washing of 
feet of, 127; consistent individuality of, in the New Testament, 129; 
denials of Christ by, 138-141 ; precursors of denials of, 148 ; sequel 
of denials of, 148; runs with John to the sepulchre, 156; receives a 
threefold commission, 160; sermon of, on Pentecost, 177; compared 
with John, 186; sermon of, at Solomon's Porch, 194; shadow of, 236, 
238 ; before the council the second time, 242-245 ; reproves Simon 
Magus, 259 ; first meeting of, with Paul, 268 ; cures Eneas at Lydda, 
273 ; raises Dorcas to life at Joppa, 275-279 ; vision of, at Joppa, 
286 ; goes to Cornelius, 287 ; sermon of, in house of Cornelius, 290 ; 
promptitude of, 295, 354 ; imprisoned by Herod, 304 ; composure of 
307 ; released by an angel, 307 ; received by the disciples, 308 ; vacil- 
lation of, at Antioch, 320 ; reproved by Paul, 223 ; epistles of, 332 ; 
at Babylon, 333 ; did he visit Rome ? 341. 

Philip the Deacon, preaching of, in Samaria, 255. 

Pollok, Robert, saying of, 35 ; quoted from, 214. 

Pope, the, not the successor of Peter, 88; washing of feet by the, 131 ; 
primacy of the, not connected with Peter, 236. 

Porch, Solomon's, description of, 194 ; Peter's sermon in, 194, 195. 

Practical beneficence illustrated by Dorcas, 276, 278. 

Prayer, Pentecost begun in, 180 ; the resource of Christians in trial, 214 ; 
offered by disciples for Peter's release, 305 ; power of, 313 ; relation 
of, to laws of nature, 314. 

Preachers prepared by God for their hearers, 297. 

Preaching, characteristics of Peter's, at Pentecost, 182-184. 

Pressense, Edward de, quoted from, 13. 

Prison, Peter's release from, an illustration of the Christian's death* 
316. 

16* 



37© Index. 

Promptitude necessary in dealing with inquirers, 295 ; a characteristic of 
Peter, 354. 

Rashness prepares the way for the denial of Christ, 143. 

Renan's "Life of Jesus," quoted from, 154. 

Repentance, as preached by John the Baptist, 9 ; preaching of, the pre- 
lude to revival, 14; genuine marks of, 149; connection of, with times 
of refreshing, 199. 

Reproof to be received with meekness, 327. 

Revival, begins in prayer, 180 ; shows itself first in the quickening of 
disciples, 181 ; accompanied by the preaching of the truth, 182. 

Ritter's " Comparative Geography of Palestine," quoted from, no. 

Robertson, F. W., referred to, 294. 

Robinson, Rev. Dr. Edward, quoted from, 79, 125. 

Rogers, Henry, quoted from, 102. 

Sacrificial character of Christ's death, 17; importance of preaching 
the, 18; objections to, considered, 100-104. 

Saints, Christians first called, 279. 

Samaritans described, 255. 

Sanctification distinct from inspiration, 321. 

Schaff, Rev. Philip, D.D., quoted from, 219. 

Scott, Thomas, story of, 30. 

Second Epistle of Peter, genuineness of, 338. 

Self-confidence a precursor of denial, 141. 

Self-denial, meaning of, as enforced by Christ, 105. 

Self-knowledge, through the discovery of Christ, an element of minis- 
terial power, 42. 

Shadow of Peter, 236-238. 

Skepticism connected with the state of the Church, 16. 

Simeon, Charles, anecdote of, 106. 

Simon Magus, character of, 256, 260 ; request of, 259. 

Sincerity, naturalness indispensable to, 351. 

Smith's " Dictionary " quoted from, 340. 

Speculative difficulties should not keep us from following Christ, 168. 

Spurgeon, C. H., referred to, 34. 

Stanley, Dean, quoted from, 38, 79, 80. 

Steadfastness, elements of, 75. 

Stephen, preaching and martyrdom of, 253, 254. 

Substitution, why impossible in human law, 102. 

Tabor, Mount, not the scene of the Transfiguration, no. 
Thomson, Rev. W. M., D.D., quoted from, 54. 
Tongues, gift of, 173. 

Transfiguration, purpose of, as connected with Christ, 1 13 ; with Moses 
and Elijah, 114; with Peter, James, and John, 115. 



Index. 371 

Trench, Archbishop, quoted from, 28, 39, 58, 100, no, 192. 

Trial, often sent to prevent declension, 57 ; lightened by Christ's inter- 
cession, 60 ; removed by Christ's coming to us, 61 ; strength obtained 
for, in devotion, 122 ; to be expected in Christian experience, 347. 

Usefulness of a man sometimes connected with his recovery from sin, 
362. 

Washing of the disciples' feet by Jesus, meaning of, 132; lessons from, 

134. 

Wilberforce and Clarkson, anecdote of, 118. 
Wisdom needed in the winning of souls, 198. 

Wordsworth's "Commentary on the Greek New Testament," quoted 
from, 159. 



THE END. 



NOV 3 1904 



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